Advances in the Surveillance and Prevention of Healthcare-Associated Infections

A special issue of Pathogens (ISSN 2076-0817).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2025) | Viewed by 571

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, CA 92093, USA
Interests: hepatitis C infection; hepatitis B infection; HIV; healthcare associated infections; infectious diseases

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are infections that patients experience while or after receiving medical care. HAIs are recognized as a global health concern contributing to morbidity and mortality, and are associated with readmission to the hospital, extended length of stay and increased costs. Standardized surveillance and public reporting of healthcare-associated infections are an integral part of infection control programs in most countries. These programs ensure also that feedback is provided to the clinical teams comparing risk-adjusted HAI outcomes to similar institutions across the nation to develop action plans for process improvement, and to verify the effectiveness of the prevention measures introduced.

Over the past 20 years, safety and quality improvement programs have used HAI surveillance to achieve better outcomes. Studies have demonstrated that a significant proportion of healthcare-associated infections and conditions can be prevented using simple and continuous performance improvement strategies, such as Plan–Do–Study–Act (PDSA) cycles. As surveillance methodologies, risk assessments and prevention initiatives become more sophisticated and complex, additional efforts are needed to increase our knowledge in this field.

This Special Issue aims to provide the latest questions and controversies surrounding the surveillance, prevention, and control of HAIs. We invite experts worldwide to submit research articles or review articles related to this important topic. Suggested topics include but are not limited to the following:

  • Hospital-onset bacteremia or fungemia vs. central line-associated bloodstream infection surveillance;
  • Changing hospital-onset C. difficile surveillance from LABID to alternative options;
  • Are transmission-based precautions for high-frequency MDROs (e.g. MRSA) still indicated?;
  • Updating SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory viral pathogen transmission precautions;
  • Hospital value-based purchasing in sepsis care;
  • Diagnostic stewardship of UTIs.
  • Tuberculosis screening and mask fit-testing in healthcare workers.
  • Innovations in antimicrobial stewardship.
  • Adopting sustainable stewardship measures to reduce medical waste in healthcare.
  • Prevention of medical device contamination from environmental microorganisms.

Prof. Dr. Francesca J. Torriani
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • healthcare-associated infections (HAIs)
  • nosocomial infections
  • HAI-associated pathogens
  • infection prevention and control
  • antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobial stewardship

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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10 pages, 497 KiB  
Article
Impact of Multifaceted Interventions Including Waterless Patient Care on Endemic Occurrence of Serratia marcescens in an Intensive Care Unit
by Romain Martischang, Gaud Catho, Abdessalam Cherkaoui, Filippo Boroli, Niccolo Buetti, Jerome Pugin and Stephan Harbarth
Pathogens 2025, 14(4), 363; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens14040363 - 8 Apr 2025
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Abstract
Serratia marcescens acquisition is a common problem in intensive care units (ICUs). Following an initial outbreak in 2017 with ongoing endemicity, this study aimed to analyze the impact of behavioral interventions and sink removals on S. marcescens incidence in a tertiary-care ICU. We [...] Read more.
Serratia marcescens acquisition is a common problem in intensive care units (ICUs). Following an initial outbreak in 2017 with ongoing endemicity, this study aimed to analyze the impact of behavioral interventions and sink removals on S. marcescens incidence in a tertiary-care ICU. We conducted a quasi-experimental, interventional study including patients with a positive screening or clinical culture for S. marcescens, from 48 h (D2) after ICU admission to 14 days after ICU discharge. A sub-analysis considered patients positive for S. marcescens from ICU admission (D0) to 14 days after ICU discharge. Multivariate Poisson regression analyses were performed. Between January 2014 and December 2022, 167 cases of S. marcescens infection or colonization were identified (respiratory samples, 71%). Despite the presence of an aquatic reservoir, we found that neither behavioral nor architectural interventions (sink removal) reduced significantly S. marcescens incidence, yielding incidence ratios of 1.02 [95%CI 0.33–3.11] and 4.25 [95%CI 0.59–30.56], respectively. However, an association was observed with administration of selective oral decontamination (SOD) in the sub-cohort (OR 1.01; 95%CI 1.00–1.03). Behavioral change interventions and transition to a waterless ICU did not control endemic, polyclonal S. marcescens occurrence. The selective pressure exercised by SOD may have reduced the effectiveness of waterless care. Full article
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