Assessing the magnitude and trends in hospital acquired infections in Canadian hospitals through sequential point prevalence surveys.

Geoffrey Taylor,Kathryn N Suh,Alice Wong,Lynn Johnston,Nicole Lesaux,Elizabeth Henderson,John Embil,Virginia Roth,Joanne Embree,Michael John,Denise Gravel,Anne Matlow

doi:10.1186/s13756-016-0118-3

Geoffrey Taylor, Kathryn N Suh + Show 10 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s13756-016-0118-3

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Journal: Antimicrobial resistance and infection control	Publication Date: May 21, 2016
Citations: 32	License type: cc-by

Abstract

BackgroundHealthcare acquired infections (HAI) are an important public health problem in developed countries, but comprehensive data on trends over time are lacking. Prevalence surveys have been used as a surrogate for incidence studies and can be readily repeated.MethodsThe Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program conducted prevalence surveys in 2002 and 2009 in a large network of major Canadian acute care hospitals. NHSN definitions of HAI were used. Use of isolation precautions on the survey day was documented.ResultsIn 2009, 9,953 acute care inpatients were surveyed; 1,234 infections (124/1000) were found, compared to 111/1000 in 2002, (p < 0.0001). There was increased prevalence of urinary tract infection (UTI) and Clostridium difficile, offset by decreases in pneumonia and bloodstream infection. Use of isolation precautions increased from 77 to 148 per 1000 patients (p < 0.0001), attributable to increased use of contact precautions in patients infected or colonized with antimicrobial resistant organisms.ConclusionBetween 2002 and 2009 HAI prevalence increased by 11.7 % in a network of major Canadian hospitals due to increases in Clostridium difficile and urinary tract infection. The use of isolation precautions increased by 92.2 % attributable to increased contact isolation. National prevalence surveys are useful tools to assess evolving trends in HAI.

Highlights

Healthcare acquired infections (HAI) are an important public health problem in developed countries, but comprehensive data on trends over time are lacking
In this report we fully describe the assessment of HAI prevalence and use of isolation precautions in patients in Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program (CNISP) hospitals in 2009, compare the results to our 2002 survey, and discuss the ongoing value of HAI prevalence surveys based on these comparisons
Surveillance for HAI in participating hospitals is considered to be a quality assurance activity within the mandate of hospital infection prevention and control programs and, does not constitute human research, research ethics committee approval was not needed for this study

Summary

Introduction

Healthcare acquired infections (HAI) are an important public health problem in developed countries, but comprehensive data on trends over time are lacking. Hospital acquired infections (HAI) are a common complication of healthcare, but determining their frequency and assessing trends over time is difficult [1]. The Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program (CNISP) has conducted HAI surveillance in a network of Canadian hospitals since 1993. Taylor et al Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control (2016) 5:19 conducted surveys for the prevalence of HAI within network hospitals in 2002 and again in 2009, and has previously reported partial results [8,9,10]. In this report we fully describe the assessment of HAI prevalence and use of isolation precautions in patients in CNISP hospitals in 2009, compare the results to our 2002 survey, and discuss the ongoing value of HAI prevalence surveys based on these comparisons

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Conclusion