Surveillance

People who are in hospital are at greater risk of developing infections for a variety of reasons.

These include:

  • a weakened immune system;
  • increased use of antibiotics;
  • surgical and medical procedures that cause breaks in the skin; and
  • transmission of bacteria from one person to another due to close contact with other patients and health-care workers.

The Infection Prevention and Control program monitors for infections throughout the organization as a part of ongoing initiatives to improve patient safety.

Several patient safety indicators that are tracked and reported on a quarterly basis by Eastern Health include:

  • Clostridium difficile infection (CDI)
  • Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA)
  • Vancomycin Resistant Enterococcus (VRE)

Hospital Acquired Infection (HAI): an infection that develops during the course of a hospital stay.

Surveillance Statistics for HAIs

Table 1: Rate of healthcare-associated Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) per 10,000 patient/resident days by fiscal quarter

Fiscal Quarter Q2 2022/23 Q3 2022/23 Q4 2022/23 Q1 2023/24
Acute Care 3.20 1.75 2.30 1.93
Long Term Care 0.07 0.22 0.08 0

Note: Most recent rate of healthcare-associated CDI in acute care (2020) was 3.80 per 10,000 patient days (Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program, 2022).

Table 2: Rate of healthcare-associated Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) per 10,000 patient/resident days by fiscal year

Fiscal Year 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23
Acute Care 3.00 3.69 2.81 2.83 2.54
Long Term Care 0.12 0.10 0.12 0.13 0.13

Note: Most recent rate of healthcare-associated CDI in acute care (2020) was 3.80 per 10,000 patient days (Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program, 2022).

Table 3: Rate of healthcare-associated Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) infection per 10,000 patient/resident days by fiscal quarter

Fiscal Quarter Q2 2022/23 Q3 2022/23 Q4 2022/23 Q1 2023/24
Acute Care 1.37 1.31 1.87 1.63
Long Term Care 0.15 0.29 0.08 0.11

Note: Most recent national rate of healthcare-associated MRSA in acute care (2017) was 1.65 per 10,000 patient days (Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program, 2019).

Table 4: Rate of healthcare-associated Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) infection per 10,000 patient/resident days by fiscal year

Fiscal Year 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23
Acute Care 2.47 2.43 2.12 1.73 1.61
Long Term Care 0.24 0.31 0.18 0.13 0.22

Note: Most recent national rate of healthcare-associated MRSA in acute care (2017) was 1.65 per 10,000 patient days (Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program, 2019).

Note:

  • Rates are a measure of disease frequency in a population. In this case, rates are calculated by dividing the number of cases by the number of patient or resident days and multiplying by 10,000. For example, if there were 2 cases and 1000 patient days, the rate would be 20 per
    10, 000 patient days.
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Last updated: 2023-11-22