Healthcare-associated influenza in Canadian hospitals from 2006 to 2012.

Objective: To determine trends, patient characteristics, and outcome of patients with healthcare-associated influenza in Canadian hospitals.

Design: Prospective surveillance of laboratory-confirmed influenza among hospitalized adults was conducted from 2006 to 2012. Adults with positive test results at or after admission to the hospital were assessed.

Trends in antiviral therapy of adults hospitalized with influenza in Canada since the end of the 2009 pandemic.

Background: Multiple observational studies have associated antiviral treatment of patients hospitalized with influenza with improved outcome, including reduced mortality. During the 2009-2010 H1N1 pandemic increased use of antiviral treatment of hospital patients was reported. We have carried out prospective surveillance for influenza in patients in a large network of Canadian hospitals since 2006.

Understanding the burden of influenza infection among adults in Canadian hospitals: a comparison of the 2009-2010 pandemic season with the prepandemic and postpandemic seasons.

Background: The degree to which the 2009-2010 influenza pandemic season differed from previous and subsequent influenza seasons in Canadian hospitals has not yet been assessed.

Methods: Surveillance for laboratory-confirmed influenza among adults in 51 Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program hospitals was conducted between November 1, 2006, and May 31, 2011. Inpatient characteristics, treatment, and outcomes of influenza cases in the pandemic season (2009-2010) were compared with those in the prepandemic (2006-2007 to 2008-2009) and postpandemic (2010-2011) seasons.

Laboratory-confirmed pandemic h1n1 influenza in hospitalized adults: findings from the Canadian Nosocomial Infections Surveillance Program, 2009-2010.

Surveillance for pandemic H1N1 influenza was conducted between June 1, 2009, and May 31, 2010, among adults at 40 participating hospitals in the Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program. The first wave was characterized by a higher proportion of Aboriginals and pregnant women as well as severe outcomes, compared to the second wave.

Infection control and antimicrobial restriction practices for antimicrobial-resistant organisms in Canadian tertiary care hospitals.

In 2003, a survey examining infection control and antimicrobial restriction policies and practices for preventing the emergence and transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE), and extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) was performed within Canadian teaching hospitals as part of the Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program. Twenty-eight of 29 questionnaires were returned. The majority of facilities conducted admission screening for MRSA (96.