Survey of Clostridium difficile infection surveillance systems in Europe, 2011.

To develop a European surveillance protocol for Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), existing national CDI surveillance systems were assessed in 2011. A web-based electronic form was provided for all national coordinators of the European CDI Surveillance Network (ECDIS-Net). Of 35 national coordinators approached, 33 from 31 European countries replied.

Impact of department volume on surgical site infections following arthroscopy, knee replacement or hip replacement.

Objective: To examine the association between surgical department volume and the risk of surgical site infections (SSI) after orthopaedic procedures.

Background: A minimum volume regulation of at least 50 knee replacements per year was implemented in 2006 in German surgical departments.

Methods: SSI rates were obtained from Krankenhaus-Infektions-Surveillance-System, the German national nosocomial infections surveillance system (January 2003-June 2008).

[How many hospital insurance claims are based on infection control failures?].

Background And Objective: It can be expected that hospital insurance claims based on health care-associated infections (HCAI) will increase in German hospitals because of growing media and patient interest in this topic. It was the aim of this study to determine the percentage of insurance claims because of HCAI among all potential cases of avoidable HCAI.

Methods: Data of a core group of 254 hospitals continuously working with one of the largest German hospital insurance companies (ECCLESIA) over an eleven-year period were used.

Worldwide Outbreak Database: the largest collection of nosocomial outbreaks.

Epidemiological findings of a single outbreak event may not be generalized; however, the characteristics of a typical outbreak can be determined on the basis of a large number of similar events. The Outbreak Database ( http://www.outbreak-database.