Rates of healthcare-associated infections continued to fall in 2010, according to new figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Central line-associated bloodstream infections decreased by 33%, while surgical site infections and catheter-associated urinary tract infections in hospitals dropped 10% and 7%, respectively. The CDC also noted an 18% reduction in the number of patients who develop healthcare-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA.

“Hospitals continue to make impressive progress in driving down certain infections in intensive-care units through implementation of CDC prevention strategies,” said Dr. Thomas Frieden, the CDC’s director, in a news release. “Hospitals and state health departments need to translate this progress to other areas of healthcare delivery and healthcare infections, such as dialysis and ambulatory surgery centers, and diarrheal infections such as Clostridium difficile.”

The CDC’s data is taken from its National Healthcare Safety Network, an online surveillance and prevention program that collects data and tracks infection rates. Currently, more than 3,000 hospitals submit infection data to the NHSN and 22 states mandate participation, according to the CDC’s website. The CMS also requires hospitals to report their incidences of central-line associated bloodstream infections via the NHSN in order to receive their full payment update for 2013.