This report summarises the results of a survey to gather information about the spread of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae and carbapenems-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in Europe.
On the occasion of the 16th European Health Forum Gastein, ECDC hosted a lunch workshop with the title “Healthcare-associated infections: time to take responsibility”.
Antimicrobial resistance represent a serious threat to public health and patient safety and is a worldwide problem. Each year, in the European Union (EU) at least 25 000 patients die of infections with multidrug-resistant bacteria.
ECDC publishes today the results of its first point prevalence survey (PPS) on healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial use in European hospitals. Based on findings from this survey, ECDC estimates that on any given day, one in 18 patients in European hospitals has at least one healthcare-associated infection. The report also presents data on the most commonly reported infections, which microorganisms are most commonly reported as causing them, how often antimicrobial drugs are being used to treat these infections and data on infection control structure and processes in the hospitals. More than 1 000 hospitals in 30 European countries participated in this first Europe-wide PPS.
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.
Peri-operative antibiotic prophylaxis (PAP) is considered one of the most effective measures for the prevention of surgical site infections (SSIs). An ECDC commissioned ‘Systematic review and evidence-based guidance on peri-operative antibiotic prophylaxis’ was performed to identify effective measures to improve compliance with PAP among healthcare professionals. The
In December 2012, the TRICE-IS project (Implementation of a training strategy for Infection Control in the European Union) started as a next step in ECDC’s support to national training programmes for infection control and hospital hygiene (IC/HH).