Prevalence, incidence burden, and clinical impact of healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial resistance: a national prevalent cohort study in acute care hospitals in Greece.

Background: Assessing the overall burden of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) is challenging, but imperative in evaluating the cost-effectiveness of infection control programs. This study aimed to estimate the point prevalence and annual incidence of HAIs in Greece and assess the excess length of stay (LOS) and mortality attributable to HAIs, overall and for main infection sites and tracer antimicrobial resistance (AMR) phenotypes and pathogens.

Patients And Methods: This prevalent cohort study used a nationally representative cross-section of 8,247 inpatients in 37 acute care hospitals to record active HAIs of all types at baseline and overall LOS and in-hospital mortality up to 90 days following hospital admission.

Antibiotic use and the risk of carbapenem-resistant extended-spectrum-{beta}-lactamase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae infection in hospitalized patients: results of a double case-control study.

Objectives: To identify the roles of various antibiotics as risk factors for carbapenem-resistant extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (KP) infection (ESBL-KP infection).

Methods: Data were collected over 26 months in a tertiary care university hospital with established endemicity of carbapenem-resistant ESBL-KP (ESBL-CRKP). Using a case-case-control design, patients who presented an infection caused by carbapenem-susceptible ESBL-KP (ESBL-CSKP) and patients with ESBL-CRKP infection were compared with a common control group of hospitalized patients.

Device-associated infections in the intensive care units of Cyprus: results of the first national incidence study.

Background: Surveillance of healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) has become an integral part of infection control programs in several countries, especially in the intensive care unit (ICU) setting. In contrast, surveillance data on the epidemiology of ICU-acquired infections in Cyprus are limited. The aim of this study was to assess the risk of ICU-acquired infections and to identify areas for improvement in Cypriot hospitals by comparing observed incidence rates with international benchmarks and by specifying the microbiological and antibiotic resistance profiles of infecting organisms.

Surveillance of surgical site infections at a tertiary care hospital in Greece: incidence, risk factors, microbiology, and impact.

Background: In this first attempt to implement a standardized surveillance system of surgical site infections (SSI) in a Greek hospital, our objective was to identify areas for improvement by comparing main epidemiologic and microbiologic features of SSI with international data.

Methods: The National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance (NNIS) system protocols were employed to prospectively collect data for patients in 8 surgical wards who underwent surgery during a 9-month period. SSI rates were benchmarked with international data using standardized infection ratios.

The dynamic relationship between antibiotic use and the incidence of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus: time-series modelling of 7-year surveillance data in a tertiary-care hospital.

The role of antibiotics in the epidemiology of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) has been studied extensively, but controversies remain as to which, and to what extent, antibiotics facilitate the emergence and dissemination of VRE in hospitals. Aggregate data on the use of several antibiotic classes in terms of defined daily doses (DDD) per 100 patient-days (PD), and VRE incidence rates in terms of clinical isolates per 1000 PD, were evaluated during a 7-year period at a tertiary-care hospital. Time-series analysis (autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) and transfer function models) was used to quantify the temporal effect of antibiotic use on VRE incidence and estimate effect-delays.

Case-mix adjustment approach to benchmarking prevalence rates of nosocomial infection in hospitals in Cyprus and Greece.

Objective: To examine the effect of heterogeneous case mix for a benchmarking analysis and interhospital comparison of the prevalence rates of nosocomial infection.

Design: Cross-sectional survey.

Setting: Eleven hospitals located in Cyprus and in the region of Crete in Greece.

Device-associated nosocomial infection rates in intensive care units in Greece.

Site-specific, risk-adjusted incidence rates of intensive care unit (ICU)-acquired infections were obtained through standardized surveillance in 8 ICUs in Greece. High rates were observed for central line-associated bloodstream infection (12.1 infections per 1,000 device-days) and ventilator-associated pneumonia (12.

Epidemiology and molecular analysis of intestinal colonization by vancomycin-resistant enterococci in greek hospitals.

From 1,246 specimens collected from 13 Greek hospitals, 266 vancomycin-resistant enterococci strains were isolated from 255 patients (20.5%). The VanA phenotype was present in 82 (30.

Emergence of vancomycin-resistant enterococci in a tertiary hospital in Crete, Greece: a cluster of cases and prevalence study on intestinal colonisation.

The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of five consecutive cases of infection with vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) and the prevalence of faecal carriage of VRE among patients admitted to a 700-bed university hospital where no VRE had been isolated previously. In a 2-month period, five consecutive patients infected with VRE were detected. Three VanB+ Enterococcus faecium isolates were obtained from three patients, while two VanA+ E.

Prevalence of nosocomial infections after surgery in Greek hospitals: results of two nationwide surveys.

Objective: To determine the frequency and type of nosocomial infections (NIs) (especially surgical-site infections [SSIs]), risk factors, and the type and duration of antibiotic use among surgical patients in Greek hospitals.

Design: Two point-prevalence studies.

Setting: Fourteen Greek hospitals.

Repeated multi-centre prevalence surveys of hospital-acquired infection in Greek hospitals. CICNet. Cretan Infection Control Network.

Three prevalence studies for the estimation of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) were carried out in eight Greek hospitals on an annual basis during the years 1994-1996. The overall prevalence of HAI was 6.8, 5.