Reporting on 2009 surveillance data and 2010 epidemic intelligence data

Each year in the European Union, approximately 4 million patients acquire an infection in hospital and approximately 37 000 of them die as a direct result.

Surgical site infections are among the most common healthcare-associated infections, associated with longer postoperative hospital stay, additional surgical procedures or stay in an intensive care unit, and often higher mortality.

Each year in the European Union, approximately four million patients acquire healthcare-associated infections and 37 000 of them die as a result.

The protocol provides a standardised methodology to Member States and hospitals in response to article II.8.c of Council Recommendation 2009/C 151/01 of 9 June 2009 on patient safety, including the prevention and control of healthcare-associated infections. It also integrates the main variables of the ESAC hospital PPS protocol, thereby providing support to Council Recommendation 2002/77/EC of 15 November 2001 on the prudent use of antimicrobial agents in human medicine.

​In 2011–2012, 29 EU/EEA Member States and Croatia participated in the first EU-wide, ECDC-coordinated point prevalence survey of healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial use in acute care hospitals.

This report presents the results of surveillance of surgical site infections in participating European countries for 2010–2011. The number of reported operations increased and three countries reported data for the first time in 2011.

Reporting on 2011 surveillance data and 2012 epidemic intelligence data

​To quantify the magnitude of healthcare-associated infections in long-term care facilities at the European level, ECDC provided funding for the Healthcare-Associated infections in Long-Term care facilities (HALT) project, which developed a sustainable methodology based on a repeated Point Prevalence Survey design to study their prevalence and to explore related infection prevention and control structures and process indicators in the same group of facilities.

To quantify the magnitude of healthcare-associated infections in long-term care facilities at the European level, ECDC provided funding for the HALT project (healthcare-associated infections in long-term care facilities), which developed a sustainable methodology