Central line infection statistics at a glance
Central line infection statistics are a good reminder that prevention is not a background task. The CDC’s 2024 National and State HAI Progress Report shows meaningful progress in some places and stubborn risk in others, with the most useful story coming from how the numbers move across settings, states, and years.
Table of contents
- Fast facts
- What the 2024 report covers
- National CLABSI trends
- State reporting patterns
- How 2024 compares with the 2015 baseline
- What the numbers say about prevention
- Related CLABSI context from CDC
Fast facts
- CDC reports a 9% decrease in CLABSI nationally among acute care hospitals in 2024 versus 2023 (CDC Current HAI Progress Report).
- ICU CLABSI SIRs decreased 10% in 2024 versus 2023 (CDC Current HAI Progress Report).
- Ward CLABSI SIRs decreased 9% in 2024 versus 2023 (CDC Current HAI Progress Report).
- 46 states reported CLABSI data for acute care hospitals in the 2024 report (CDC Current HAI Progress Report).
- 50 states performed better on at least two infection types compared with the 2015 baseline (CDC Current HAI Progress Report).
- CDC says 18,100 central line-associated bloodstream infections still occur in ICUs and wards of acute care hospitals each year in the 2026 NHSN manual (CDC NHSN Patient Safety Component Manual).
- CDC says roughly one in 31 U.S. patients has at least one HAI on any given day (CDC HAI Progress Report FAQ).
Big number: The 2024 progress report includes data from more than 38,000 active hospitals, long-term care facilities, and other healthcare facilities that provide data to NHSN (CDC Current HAI Progress Report).
What the 2024 report covers
The CDC’s 2024 National and State HAI Progress Report is dated Jan. 29, 2026 and summarizes 2024 HAI data (CDC Current HAI Progress Report). That timing matters because the report is not a simple snapshot of one hospital type or one infection type. It spans four healthcare settings: acute care hospitals, critical access hospitals, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, and long-term acute care hospitals (CDC Current HAI Progress Report).
The report also covers a broad set of infections and device-related events:
- CLABSIs
- CAUTIs
- VAEs
- SSIs
- MRSA bloodstream events
- C. difficile events
CDC says the report uses the SIR, or standardized infection ratio, which compares observed infections with predicted infections for a summarized time period (CDC Current HAI Progress Report). It also uses SURs for central lines, urinary catheters, and ventilators among the four main facility types (CDC Current HAI Progress Report).
Two more details help interpret the trend line:
- The 2024 report uses the 2015 national baseline and risk adjustment methodology for SIR and SUR calculations (CDC Current HAI Progress Report).
- The report includes 2024 data reported to NHSN through June 1, 2025 (CDC Current HAI Progress Report).
That combination of time window, baseline, and facility coverage is why central line infection statistics in this report should be read as a system-level measure, not a single-facility scorecard.
National CLABSI trends
The most direct national signal in the 2024 report is improvement. CDC reports a 9% decrease in CLABSI nationally among acute care hospitals in 2024 versus 2023 (CDC Current HAI Progress Report). That reduction is reinforced by location-specific movement:
- ICU CLABSI SIRs decreased 10% (CDC Current HAI Progress Report).
- Ward CLABSI SIRs decreased 9% (CDC Current HAI Progress Report).
Those changes are useful because they show the improvement is not limited to one setting inside the hospital. ICU and ward trends both moved in the same direction, which suggests broad prevention gains rather than a narrow operational shift.
Why the national percentage matters
A percentage change is not the whole story, but it is still useful when paired with CDC’s remaining burden estimate. CDC says 18,100 CLABSIs still occur each year in ICUs and wards of acute care hospitals in the 2026 NHSN Patient Safety Component Manual (CDC NHSN Patient Safety Component Manual). That means progress at the national level still sits on top of a large residual burden.
The practical takeaway is straightforward:
- A 9% national reduction is real movement.
- A large annual infection burden means the opportunity to keep reducing is still substantial.
- Prevention remains relevant even when the overall trend is improving.
Fast facts on CLABSI trend direction
- 2024 acute care hospitals: down 9% versus 2023 (CDC Current HAI Progress Report).
- 2024 ICUs: down 10% versus 2023 (CDC Current HAI Progress Report).
- 2024 wards: down 9% versus 2023 (CDC Current HAI Progress Report).
- 2026 NHSN manual burden estimate: 18,100 CLABSIs per year in acute care ICUs and wards (CDC NHSN Patient Safety Component Manual).
State reporting patterns
State participation helps explain how much of the country is represented in the report and how wide the CLABSI surveillance lens really is. CDC says 46 states reported CLABSI data for acute care hospitals in the 2024 report (CDC Current HAI Progress Report). Reporting was thinner in some other care settings:
- 8 states reported CLABSI data for inpatient rehabilitation facilities (CDC Current HAI Progress Report).
- 11 states reported CLABSI data for long-term acute care hospitals (CDC Current HAI Progress Report).
That gap matters. It means national CLABSI statistics are most robust in acute care hospitals, while some facility types have a much smaller state reporting footprint in the report.
| Setting | States reporting CLABSI data | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Acute care hospitals | 46 | CDC Current HAI Progress Report |
| Inpatient rehabilitation facilities | 8 | CDC Current HAI Progress Report |
| Long-term acute care hospitals | 11 | CDC Current HAI Progress Report |
CDC also says CLABSI data in the 2024 report include ICU, NICU, and ward locations (CDC Current HAI Progress Report). For acute care hospitals, CDC says CLABSI data are reported from all applicable locations (CDC Current HAI Progress Report). For IRFs, CLABSI data are included for all inpatient locations except neonatal intensive care units and well-baby locations because IRFs do not use those locations (CDC Current HAI Progress Report).
That distinction is easy to miss, but it helps explain why CLABSI reporting looks different across settings. Same infection type, different patient care environments, different reporting structure.
How 2024 compares with the 2015 baseline
The 2015 baseline is the reference point behind many of the report’s comparisons. CDC says the 2024 report uses that baseline for SIR and SUR calculations, which makes the state-by-state pattern especially useful for understanding where improvement is broad versus uneven (CDC Current HAI Progress Report).
State performance versus the 2015 baseline
| Comparison to 2015 baseline | Number of states | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Better on at least two infection types | 50 | CDC Current HAI Progress Report |
| Better on three infection types | 8 | CDC Current HAI Progress Report |
| Better on four infection types | 17 | CDC Current HAI Progress Report |
| Better on five or more infection types | 23 | CDC Current HAI Progress Report |
| Worse on two or more infection types | 3 | CDC Current HAI Progress Report |
The striking thing here is how many states are on the improving side of the ledger. 50 states performed better on at least two infection types compared with the 2015 baseline (CDC Current HAI Progress Report). CDC further says 23 states performed better on five or more infection types (CDC Current HAI Progress Report).
That does not mean every infection type improved everywhere. It does mean the data are showing broad movement in the right direction when the 2024 numbers are compared with the 2015 baseline.
State performance versus the 2024 national SIR
CDC also compares states against the 2024 national SIR, which gives a different view: not just progress since baseline, but relative performance within the same reporting year (CDC Current HAI Progress Report).
- 23 states performed better on at least two infection types compared with the 2024 national SIR (CDC Current HAI Progress Report).
- 5 states performed better on three infection types compared with the 2024 national SIR (CDC Current HAI Progress Report).
- 6 states performed better on four or more infection types compared with the 2024 national SIR (CDC Current HAI Progress Report).
- 28 states performed worse on at least two infection types compared with the 2024 national SIR (CDC Current HAI Progress Report).
- 11 states performed worse on three or more infection types compared with the 2024 national SIR (CDC Current HAI Progress Report).
This is where central line infection statistics become especially useful for operational benchmarking. A state may improve against a historic baseline while still sitting above the current national comparison line for multiple infection types. That difference matters if the goal is not just progress, but relative performance.
What the numbers say about prevention
CDC says CLABSI is one of the HAIs tracked by NHSN, which it describes as the nation’s most widely used HAI infection tracking system (CDC Current HAI Progress Report). It also says central lines are commonly used in intensive care units, can remain in place for weeks or months, and are much more likely than peripheral IVs to be a source of serious infection (CDC CLABSI Basics).
Those facts explain why CLABSI prevention keeps showing up in hospital quality work. A device that stays in place for a long time creates a long exposure window.
Prevention-relevant points from CDC’s CLABSI basics
- CLABSIs occur when germs enter the bloodstream through a central line (CDC CLABSI Basics).
- People with CLABSIs may experience fever (CDC CLABSI Basics).
- People with CLABSIs may experience red skin and soreness around the central line (CDC CLABSI Basics).
- CDC says patients should ask how long a central line will be in place if one is needed (CDC CLABSI Basics).
Why prevention still has room to move
CDC says targeted HAIs such as CLABSI can decrease by more than 70% when facilities use awareness and specific prevention steps (CDC HAI Progress Report FAQ). That figure is important because it suggests the remaining burden is not inevitable.
At a high level, the 2024 central line infection statistics point to three separate truths at once:
- The national acute care hospital CLABSI rate improved in 2024 versus 2023 (CDC Current HAI Progress Report).
- The remaining annual burden is still large enough to matter operationally (CDC NHSN Patient Safety Component Manual).
- Prevention strategies can produce much bigger reductions when implemented well (CDC HAI Progress Report FAQ).
A compact reading of the data
- The trend is improving nationally.
- The burden is still substantial.
- State variation remains meaningful.
- Device-related prevention still offers strong upside.
Related CLABSI context from CDC
CDC’s 2024 report also helps place CLABSI alongside other infection metrics. It includes CAUTIs, VAEs, SSIs, MRSA bloodstream events, and C. difficile events in addition to CLABSIs (CDC Current HAI Progress Report). That matters because CLABSI trends are part of a broader infection-prevention picture, not a siloed metric.
CDC says the 2024 report covers 39 inpatient surgical procedure categories for national SSI data (CDC Current HAI Progress Report), and it includes SURs for central lines, urinary catheters, and ventilators among the four main facility types (CDC Current HAI Progress Report). So while central line infection statistics are the focus here, they sit inside a wider device-and-procedure framework that the CDC is tracking year over year.
A few useful comparisons to keep in mind
- CLABSI is one of several infection types in the same progress report, so improvement should be read alongside other HAI categories (CDC Current HAI Progress Report).
- The report includes state and national data shown separately for ACHs, CAHs, LTACHs, and IRFs (CDC Current HAI Progress Report).
- CDC says previous HAI Progress Reports before 2014 included acute care hospitals only (CDC HAI Progress Report FAQ), so the reporting framework has broadened over time.
- CDC says the 2024 data show decreases from 2023 that align more closely with pre-pandemic progress patterns (CDC HAI Progress Report FAQ), which is a useful context point when reading the latest trend line.
In practical terms, the data suggest central line infection prevention is not a solved problem, but it is a tractable one. The report shows clear year-over-year improvement, wide participation, and enough state-level variation to make benchmarking meaningful for hospitals and public health teams alike.
Reading the central line infection statistics correctly
A few interpretation rules help keep the numbers grounded:
- Treat the 9% national decrease as a year-over-year improvement, not a declaration that the problem is gone (CDC Current HAI Progress Report).
- Use the 46-state acute care reporting figure to judge the breadth of the dataset, but remember other facility types have smaller reporting footprints (CDC Current HAI Progress Report).
- Read the 2015 baseline comparisons as long-run context, not as a replacement for current-year comparisons (CDC Current HAI Progress Report).
- Keep the 18,100 annual CLABSI estimate in mind when assessing whether the reported improvement is operationally meaningful (CDC NHSN Patient Safety Component Manual).
- Use the more than 70% reduction potential as a reminder that prevention quality still matters a lot (CDC HAI Progress Report FAQ).
What stands out most in the current data is the combination of broad reporting, improving rates, and a still-large infection burden. That mix is exactly why central line infection statistics remain a high-value quality indicator for hospitals, public health teams, and anyone watching healthcare-associated infections closely.