The global demand for infection surveillance solutions was valued at USD 303.7 million in 2017. Some main drivers driving the market growth during the forecast period include the increasing prevalence of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs), rising antibiotic resistance in bacteria, and the use of automation in healthcare settings. The high cost of these solutions, combined with a shortage of skilled healthcare IT professionals, stifle market growth.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drug-resistant bacteria kill over 23,000 people and sicken over 2.0 million people in the United States alone each year (CDC). Furthermore, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) reported 18,924 HAI cases in 400 acute care hospitals in 2016. According to the European Commission, antibiotic-resistant bacteria destroy about 25,000 people in the European Union (EU) each year (EC). If the present epidemic rate persists until 2050, the global death rate is expected to hit 10 million every year.
Longer hospital stays have arisen from an increase in the number of procedures performed around the world. As a result, the number of patients with HAIs is expected to increase. This is intended to benefit the stock market. As healthcare costs escalate, infection monitoring solutions are expected to be in high demand.
Furthermore, favourable government policies have helped the market's rise. The National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) and the Public Health Agency of Canada's Centre for Communicable Diseases and Infection Control (CCDIC) launched the Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program (CNISP) to monitor HAI rates and progress in Canadian hospitals. In all, the CNISP network includes 54 hospitals.