New York, NY —

New Jersey lawmakers are hoping a new healthcare regulation will reduce the number of infections patients contract in hospitals. WNYC’s Fred Mogul has more.   REPORTER: In American hospitals alone, healthcare settings account for an estimated 1.7 million infections and almost 100-thousand deaths each year.

REPORTER: Today, Governor Corzine signed into law requiring hospitals to implement infection prevention programs. The regulation also requires hospitals report to state health authorities cases of a particularly widespread drug-resistant virus called MRSA.

REPORTER: New Jersey becomes one of the first states to target MRSA specifically. Together with New York, it was already one of the approximately one-third of states that gather information from hospitals about infection rates generally. For WNYC, I’m Fred Mogul.