title: Infections and antimicrobial use among institutionalized residents in Hungary: increasing need of microbiological surveillance.
abstract: As a result of the age-related changes, more elders live in long-term care facilities (LTCFs). Due to their susceptibility, infections and excess use of antimicrobials are common. The aim was to estimate the burden of infections and antimicrobial use in Hungarian LTCFs in order to increase the attention given to the prevention. European-wide point prevalence survey was conducted between April and May 2013. For each resident who had a signs and symptoms of an infection and/or treated with an antibacterial for systemic use a resident questionnaire was completed. Descriptive statistics were used to present the data. In total, 91 LTCFs with 11,823 residents were selected in this survey. The 252 residents had a sign/symptom of an infection (2.1%) and 156 received antimicrobial (1.3%). Skin and soft tissues (36.5%) was the most frequent infection. However, antimicrobials were mostly prescribed for respiratory tract infections (40.4%). The most common therapeutic antimicrobial agent (97.5%) belonged to the quinolone antibacterials (34.2%). Our results emphasise the need for targeted improvement of antimicrobial use including: reducing the use of quinolone antibacterials in order to prevent the spread of Clostridium difficile and other antimicrobial resistant microorganisms among institutionalized residents.
authors.affiliation: National Centre for Epidemiology Department of Hospital Epidemiology and Hygiene Budapest Hungary.
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Szabó
authors.affiliation: National Centre for Epidemiology Department of Hospital Epidemiology and Hygiene Budapest Hungary.
authors.forename: Karolina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Böröcz
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015984:Causality; D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000187:drug effects*; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006814:Hungary; D017053:Infection Control; D007239:Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008134:Long-Term Care; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D015363:Quinolones / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D015363:Quinolones
keywords: Hungary; antimicrobial use; elderly; infections; long-term care facilities