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Results from the First 12 Months of the National Surveillance of Healthcare Associated Outbreaks in Germany, 2011/2012
- Source :
- PLoS ONE, PLoS ONE, Vol 9, Iss 5, p e98100 (2014)
- Publication Year :
- 2014
- Publisher :
- Public Library of Science, 2014.
-
Abstract
- BACKGROUND: In August 2011, the German Protection against Infection Act was amended, mandating the reporting of healthcare associated infection (HAI) outbreak notifications by all healthcare workers in Germany via local public health authorities and federal states to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). OBJECTIVE: To describe the reported HAI-outbreaks and the surveillance system's structure and capabilities. METHODS: Information on each outbreak was collected using standard paper forms and notified to RKI. Notifications were screened daily and regularly analysed. RESULTS: Between November 2011 and November 2012, 1,326 paper forms notified 578 HAI-outbreaks, between 7 and 116 outbreaks per month. The main causative agent was norovirus (n = 414/578; 72%). Among the 108 outbreaks caused by bacteria, the most frequent pathogens were Clostridium difficile (25%) Klebsiella spp. (19%) and Staphylococcus spp. (19%). Multidrug-resistant bacteria were responsible for 54/108 (50%) bacterial outbreaks. Hospitals were affected most frequently (485/578; 84%). Hospital outbreaks due to bacteria were mostly reported from intensive care units (ICUs) (45%), followed by internal medicine wards (16%). CONCLUSION: The mandatory HAI-outbreak surveillance system describes common outbreaks. Pathogens with a particular high potential to cause large or severe outbreaks may be identified, enabling us to further focus research and preventive measures. Increasing the sensitivity and reliability of the data collection further will facilitate identification of outbreaks able to increase in size and severity, and guide specific control measures to interrupt their propagation.
- Subjects :
- Healthcare associated infections
Bacterial Diseases
medicine.medical_specialty
Time Factors
Epidemiology
Nosocomial Infections
lcsh:Medicine
History, 21st Century
Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Disease Outbreaks
German
Healthcare associated
Environmental health
Germany
Health care
medicine
Medicine and Health Sciences
Humans
natural sciences
Public and Occupational Health
lcsh:Science
Disease Notification
Cross Infection
Multidisciplinary
Population Biology
business.industry
Public health
lcsh:R
virus diseases
Outbreak
Biology and Life Sciences
Robert koch institute
Mandatory Reporting
humanities
language.human_language
Infectious Diseases
Population Surveillance
Communicable Disease Control
language
Healthcare-Associated Infections
lcsh:Q
Seasons
business
Research Article
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 19326203
- Volume :
- 9
- Issue :
- 5
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- PLoS ONE
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....82e2f795bf67c9af1bb9afcaf039eff1