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Surveillance for Hospital-Acquired Infections on Surgical Wards in a Dutch University Hospital

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Titia E. M. Kamp-Hopmans ,
Hetty E. M. Blok ,
Annet Troelstra ,
Ada C. M. Gigengack-Baars ,
Annemarie J. L. Weersink ,
Christina M. J. E. Vandenbroucke-Grauls ,
Jan Verhoef  and
Ellen M. Mascini
Titia E. M. Kamp-Hopmans*
Affiliation:
University Medical Center Utrecht, Eijkman-Winkler Institute for Microbiology, Infectious Diseases and Inflammation, Department of Hospital Hygiene & Infection Prevention, Utrecht, the Netherlands
Hetty E. M. Blok
Affiliation:
University Medical Center Utrecht, Eijkman-Winkler Institute for Microbiology, Infectious Diseases and Inflammation, Department of Hospital Hygiene & Infection Prevention, Utrecht, the Netherlands
Annet Troelstra
Affiliation:
University Medical Center Utrecht, Eijkman-Winkler Institute for Microbiology, Infectious Diseases and Inflammation, Department of Hospital Hygiene & Infection Prevention, Utrecht, the Netherlands
Ada C. M. Gigengack-Baars
Affiliation:
University Medical Center Utrecht, Eijkman-Winkler Institute for Microbiology, Infectious Diseases and Inflammation, Department of Hospital Hygiene & Infection Prevention, Utrecht, the Netherlands
Annemarie J. L. Weersink
Affiliation:
University Medical Center Utrecht, Eijkman-Winkler Institute for Microbiology, Infectious Diseases and Inflammation, Department of Hospital Hygiene & Infection Prevention, Utrecht, the Netherlands
Christina M. J. E. Vandenbroucke-Grauls
Affiliation:
Universiteit Medical Center Amsterdam, Department of Medical Microbiology and Infection Control, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Jan Verhoef
Affiliation:
University Medical Center Utrecht, Eijkman-Winkler Institute for Microbiology, Infectious Diseases and Inflammation, Department of Hospital Hygiene & Infection Prevention, Utrecht, the Netherlands
Ellen M. Mascini
Affiliation:
University Medical Center Utrecht, Eijkman-Winkler Institute for Microbiology, Infectious Diseases and Inflammation, Department of Hospital Hygiene & Infection Prevention, Utrecht, the Netherlands
*
University Medical Center Utrecht, Department of Infection Control, HP G04.614, Heidelberglaan 100, 3584 CX Utrecht, the Netherlands
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Abstract

Objectives:

To determine incidence rates of hospital-acquired infections and to develop preventive measures to reduce the risk of hospital-acquired infections.

Methods:

Prospective surveillance for hospital-acquired infections was performed during a 5-year period in the wards housing general and vascular, thoracic, orthopedic, and general gynecologic and gynecologic-oncologic surgery of the University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands. Data were collected from patients with and without infections, using criteria of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Results:

The infection control team recorded 648 hospital-acquired infections affecting 550 (14%) of 3,845 patients. The incidence density was 17.8 per 1,000 patient-days. Patients with hospital-acquired infections were hospitalized for 19.8 days versus 7.7 days for patients without hospital-acquired infections.

Prolongation of stay among patients with hospital-acquired infections may have resulted in 664 fewer admissions due to unavailable beds. Different specialties were associated with different infection rates at different sites, requiring a tailor-made approach. Interventions were recommended for respiratory tract infections in the thoracic surgery ward and for surgical-site infections in the orthopedic and gynecologic surgery wards.

Conclusions:

Surveillance in four surgical wards showed that each had its own prominent infection, risk factors, and indications for specific recommendations. Because prospective surveillance requires extensive resources, we considered a modified approach based on a half-yearly point-prevalence survey of hospital-acquired infections in all wards of our hospital. Such surveillance can be extended with procedure-specific prospective surveillance when indicated.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 24 , Issue 8 , August 2003 , pp. 584 - 590
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2003

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