Prevalence of healthcare-associated infections in Polish adult intensive care units: summary data from the ECDC European Point Prevalence Survey of Hospital-associated Infections and Antimicrobial Use in Poland 2012-2014.
BACKGROUND
Infection is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in intensive care units (ICUs) worldwide. Local epidemiological studies need to be conducted to set the priorities for surveillance and prevention programmes.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the epidemiology of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) among patients admitted to Polish adult ICUs over a three-year period.


METHODS
Data were collected according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) European Union Point Prevalence Survey of Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimicrobial Use in European Acute Care Hospitals (EU-PPS HAI & AU) protocol for 39,318 patients within 160 acute care hospitals. From this initial database, data for adult ICU patients (N=945) were filtered for further analyses.


RESULTS
HAIs were present in 370 patients (39%) and 430 HAI episodes were recorded. The most common HAIs were respiratory tract infections (45%), usually caused by Enterobacteriaceae and Gram-negative non-fermenters. The majority (87%) of these infections were likely to be device associated. Out of 61 cases of bloodstream infection, 51% were catheter associated. These bloodstream infections were mainly caused by coagulase-negative staphylococci. Among 57 cases of surgical site infection, 42% were classified as organ/space, 33% were classified as deep incisional, and 25% were classified as superficial. The predominant micro-organisms were Enterobacteriaceae and Staphylococcus aureus. Out of 50 cases of urinary tract infection, 96% were device associated.


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of HAI among Polish adult ICU patients is higher than described in similar studies, but may be partially affected by methodological differences. The proportion of device-associated infections was very high, so there is an urgent need to introduce countrywide, targeted surveillance and prevention programmes.
Department of Microbiology, Ludwik Rydygier Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland; Antimicrobial Stewardship and Infection Control Unit, Dr A. Jurasz University Hospital in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Electronic address: deptula.aleksander@gmail.com.
A
A
Deptuła
Department of Cardiac Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Silesian Centre for Heart Diseases in Zabrze, Poland.
E
E
Trejnowska
Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Unit, Centre for Pulmonology and Thoracic Surgery in Bystra, Poland.
G
G
Dubiel
Department of Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care and Acute Poisoning, Pomeranian Medical University, Szczecin, Poland.
M
M
Żukowski
Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Unit, Silesian Hospital in Cieszyn, Poland.
A
A
Misiewska-Kaczur
Department of Infection Control, Poznan University Hospital Przemienienia Panskiego, Poznan, Poland.
T
T
Ozorowski
Division of Microbiology and Infection Prevention, National Medicines Institute, Warsaw, Poland.
W
W
Hryniewicz
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D002175:Candida / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002177:Candidiasis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011044:Poland / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
ECDC point prevalence survey; Epidemiology; Healthcare-associated infections; ICU