According to data published this Monday by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Portugal, Ireland, Luxembourg and Slovenia are the countries where health workers practice hand hygiene in hospitals the most.
The data is part of the third ECDC-coordinated 2022-2023 ECDC-coordinated spot study on the prevalence of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and antimicrobials in acute hospitals, released today at a press conference to mark World Health Day.
Data on the number of observed hand hygiene compliance opportunities, which reflect the intensity of monitoring hand hygiene compliance over the past year, were provided by 1022 hospitals from 23 European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEE) countries.
“The average number of hand hygiene opportunities observed in the previous year was 3.6 opportunities per 1,000 patient days, with 23.3% of hospitals reporting no hand hygiene observations and 3.9% of hospitals reporting about more than 100 opportunities per 1,000 bed days, mainly in Ireland, Italy and Portugal,” said the report, which Lusa had access to.
Country results are presented as the percentage of hospitals with observed hand hygiene capabilities per 1000 patient days greater than the median.
“The percentage of hospitals with hand hygiene facilities above the median ranged from 0% in Cyprus, Iceland, Kosovo and Montenegro to 80% or more in Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal and Slovenia,” the document highlights.
The report also highlights that the number of beds with alcohol-based hand sanitiser dispensers at the point of care was reported by 24 EU/EEA countries: either at hospital level – 685 hospitals, or at department level – 771 hospitals.
The median percentage of beds with alcohol gel dispensers in care facilities increased from 52.8% in the 2016–2017 survey to 63% in the 2022–2023 survey.
According to the data, “the percentage varied from less than 10% in Bulgaria, Romania, Kosovo and Serbia to more than 90% in Hungary, Luxembourg, Portugal and Spain.”
The percentage of antimicrobials administered parenterally (80%) was higher than in the previous study (73%).
“Promoting an earlier transition from parenteral to oral antimicrobials is a priority in several countries in Eastern Europe and Portugal,” the document emphasizes.
Another study finding indicates that “patterns in identifying and reporting HCAIs [Infeções Associadas a Cuidados de Saúde] it averaged 98.4% and ranged from 95.2% in Portugal to 100% in Lithuania.
Every year, 4.3 million patients admitted to hospitals in the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA) contract at least one healthcare-associated infection during their stay.
There was also an increase in antimicrobial use compared to previous studies. In the 2022–2023 study, 35.5% of patients received at least one antimicrobial agent, compared with 32.9% in the previous study (2016–2017).
On any given day, around 390,000 hospitalized patients in the EU/EEA receive at least one antimicrobial drug, the ECDC says, with “particularly worrying is the fact that one in three organisms found in HAIs is a bacterium resistant to important antibiotics, limiting treatment ” options for infected patients.”
At least 20% of these infections can be prevented through sustainable and comprehensive infection prevention and control programs.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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