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Healthcare-Associated Infection in Italy Annual Point-Prevalence Surveys, 2002–2004

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Simone Lanini
Affiliation:
Istituto Nazionale per le Malattie Infettive Lazzaro Spallanzani, Roma
William R. Jarvis*
Affiliation:
Jason and Jarvis Associates, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Emanuele Nicastri
Affiliation:
Istituto Nazionale per le Malattie Infettive Lazzaro Spallanzani, Roma
Giovanni Gesu
Affiliation:
Laboratorio di Microbiologia Ospedale di Niguarda, Milano
Federico Marchetti
Affiliation:
Farmacia Ospedale della Carità, Novara
Luigi Giuliani
Affiliation:
Direzione Medica GlaxoSmithKline, Verona, Italy
Pierluca Piselli
Affiliation:
Istituto Nazionale per le Malattie Infettive Lazzaro Spallanzani, Roma
Vincenzo Puro
Affiliation:
Istituto Nazionale per le Malattie Infettive Lazzaro Spallanzani, Roma
Carla Nisii
Affiliation:
Istituto Nazionale per le Malattie Infettive Lazzaro Spallanzani, Roma
Giuseppe Ippolito
Affiliation:
Istituto Nazionale per le Malattie Infettive Lazzaro Spallanzani, Roma Istituto di Igiene Università di Pisa, Pisa
*
Jason and Jarvis Associates, 135 Dune Lane, Hilton Head Island, SC 29928 (WRJMJ@aol.com)

Abstract

Objective.

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are an important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. During the period from 2002 through 2004, a group of Italian hospitals was recruited to conduct HAI point-prevalence surveys.

Design.

Three point-prevalence surveys.

Methods.

A total of 9,609 patients were surveyed.

Results.

The overall frequency of HAI was 6.7% (645 infections among the 9,609 surveyed patients). The most frequent HAIs were lower respiratory tract infections, which accounted for 35.8% (231 of 645 HAIs) of all HAIs, followed by urinary tract infections (152 [23.6%] of 645 HAIs), bloodstream infections (90 [14.0%] of 645 HAIs), and surgical site infections (79 [12.2%] of 645 HAIs). In both multivariate and univariate analysis, invasive procedures, duration of stay, chemotherapy, trauma, coma, and the location of the hospital were all factors statistically significantly associated with the occurrence of an HAL Enterobacteriaceae were the most common isolates recovered in medical and surgical wards, whereas gram-negative aerobic bacilli were the most common isolates recovered in intensive care units. Approximately one-half of all of the patients surveyed were receiving antibiotics at the time of our study; the most used antibiotic classes were fluoroquinolones in medical wards, cephalosporins in surgical wards, and penicillins and glycopeptides in intensive care units.

Conclusion.

Our study emphasizes the need for implementing further HAI surveillance to provide the National Health System with proper tools to prevent and manage infection in hospitalized patients.

Type
Original Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2009

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