Training infection control and hospital hygiene professionals in Europe, 2010 : agreed core competencies among 33 European countries

The harmonisation of training programmes for infection control and hospital hygiene (IC/HH) professionals in Europe is a requirement of the Council recommendation on patient safety. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control commissioned the ‘Training Infection Control in Europe’ project to develop a consensus on core competencies for IC/HH professionals in the European Union (EU). Core competencies were drafted on the basis of the Improving Patient Safety in Europe (IPSE) project’s core curriculum (CC), evaluated by questionnaire and approved by National Representatives (NRs) for IC/HH training. NRs also re-assessed the status of IC/HH training in European countries in 2010 in comparison with the situation before the IPSE CC in 2006. The IPSE CC had been used to develop or update 28 of 51 IC/HH courses. Only 10 of 33 countries offered training and qualification for IC/ HH doctors and nurses. The proposed core competencies are structured in four areas and 16 professional tasks at junior and senior level. They form a reference for standardisation of IC/HH professional competencies and support recognition of training initiatives.peer-reviewe

Detection of New Francisella-Like Tick Endosymbionts in Hyalomma spp. and Rhipicephalus spp. (Acari: Ixodidae) from Bulgaria▿

We report on the identification of two new Francisella-like endosymbionts (FLEs) found in three different tick species from Bulgaria. The FLEs were characterized by 16S rRNA and tul4 gene sequencing and seem to lack the molecular marker RD1. These two new taxa seem to be facultative secondary endosymbionts of ticks

A pilot validation in 10 European Union member states of a point prevalence survey of healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial use in acute hospitals in Europe, 2011

We present a pilot validation study performed on 10 European Union (EU) Member States, of a point prevalence survey (PPS) of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and antimicrobial use in Europe in 2011 involving 29 EU/European Economic Area (EEA) countries and Croatia. A total of 20 acute hospitals and 1,950 patient records were included in the pilot study, which consisted of validation and inter-rater reliablity (IRR) testing using an in-hospital observation approach. In the validation, a sensitivity of 83% (95% confidence interval (CI): 79\u201387%) and a specificity of 98% (95% CI: 98\u201399%) were found for HAIs. The level of agreement between the primary PPS and validation results were very good for HAIs overall (Cohen\u2019s \u3baappa (\u3ba): 0.81) and across all the types of HAIs (range: 0.83 for bloodstream infections to 1.00 for lower respiratory tract infections). Antimicrobial use had a sensitivity of 94% (95% CI: 93\u201395%) and specificity of 97% (95% CI: 96\u201398%) with a very good level of agreement (\u3ba: 0.91). Agreement on other demographic items ranged from moderate to very good (\u3ba: 0.57\u20130.95): age (\u3ba: 0.95), sex (\u3ba: 0.93), specialty of physician (\u3ba: 0.87) and McCabe score (\u3ba: 0.57). IRR showed a very good level of agreement (\u3ba: 0.92) for both the presence of HAIs and antimicrobial use. This pilot study suggested valid and reliable reporting of HAIs and antimicrobial use in the PPS dataset. The lower level of sensitivity with respect to reporting of HAIs reinforces the importance of training data collectors and including validation studies as part of a PPS in order for the burden of HAIs to be better estimated

Risk Factors for Treatment Failure and Mortality Among Hospitalized Patients With Complicated Urinary Tract Infection: A Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Study (RESCUING Study Group)

Background. Complicated urinary tract infections (cUTIs) are responsible for a major share of all antibiotic consumption in hospitals. We aim to describe risk factors for treatment failure and mortality among patients with cUTIs

Pseudomonas aeruginosaPseudomonas\ aeruginosa antimicrobial susceptibility profiles, resistance mechanisms and international clonal lineages: update from ESGARS-ESCMID/ISARPAE Group

International audienceScopePseudomonas aeruginosa, a ubiquitous opportunistic pathogen considered one of the paradigms of antimicrobial resistance, is among the main causes of hospital-acquired and chronic infections associated with significant morbidity and mortality. This growing threat results from the extraordinary capacity of P. aeruginosa to develop antimicrobial resistance through chromosomal mutations, the increasing prevalence of transferable resistance determinants (such as the carbapenemases and the extended spectrum β-lactamases), and the global expansion of epidemic lineages. The general objective of this initiative is to provide a comprehensive update of P. aeruginosa resistance mechanisms, especially for the extensively drug-resistant (XDR)/difficult to treat resistance (DTR) international high-risk epidemic lineages, and how the recently approved β-lactams and β-lactam/β-lactamase inhibitor combinations may affect resistance mechanisms and the definition of susceptibility profiles.MethodsTo address this challenge, the European Study Group for Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance (ESGARS) from the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) launched the “Improving Surveillance of Antibiotic-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Europe” (ISARPAE) initiative in 2022, supported by the Joint programming initiative on antimicrobial resistance (JPIAMR) network call and included a panel of over 40 researchers from 18 European Countries. Thus, an ESGARS-ISARPAE position paper was designed and the final version agreed after four rounds of revision and discussion by all panel members.Questions addressed in the position paperTo provide an update on (i) the emerging resistance mechanisms to classical and novel antipseudomonal agents, with a particular focus on β-lactams, (ii) the susceptibility profiles associated with the most relevant β-lactam resistance mechanisms, (iii) the impact of the novel agents and resistance mechanisms on the definitions of resistance profiles and (iv) the globally expanding XDR/DTR high-risk lineages and their association with transferable resistance mechanisms.ImplicationThe evidence presented herein can be used for coordinated epidemiological surveillance and decision-making at the European and global level

Pseudomonas aeruginosa antimicrobial susceptibility profiles, resistance mechanisms and international clonal lineages: update from ESGARS-ESCMID/ISARPAE Group

Scope: Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a ubiquitous opportunistic pathogen considered one of the paradigms of antimicrobial resistance, is among the main causes of hospital-acquired and chronic infections associated with significant morbidity and mortality. This growing threat results from the extraordinary capacity of P. aeruginosa to develop antimicrobial resistance through chromosomal mutations, the increasing prevalence of transferable resistance determinants (such as the carbapenemases and the extended spectrum β-lactamases), and the global expansion of epidemic lineages. The general objective of this initiative is to provide a comprehensive update of P. aeruginosa resistance mechanisms, especially for the extensively drug-resistant (XDR)/difficult to treat resistance (DTR) international high-risk epidemic lineages, and how the recently approved β-lactams and β-lactam/β-lactamase inhibitor combinations may affect resistance mechanisms and the definition of susceptibility profiles. Methods: To address this challenge, the European Study Group for Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance (ESGARS) from the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) launched the "Improving Surveillance of Antibiotic-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Europe" (ISARPAE) initiative in 2022, supported by the Joint programming initiative on antimicrobial resistance (JPIAMR) network call and included a panel of over 40 researchers from 18 European Countries. Thus, an ESGARS-ISARPAE position paper was designed and the final version agreed after four rounds of revision and discussion by all panel members. Questions addressed in the position paper: To provide an update on (i) the emerging resistance mechanisms to classical and novel antipseudomonal agents, with a particular focus on β-lactams, (ii) the susceptibility profiles associated with the most relevant β-lactam resistance mechanisms, (iii) the impact of the novel agents and resistance mechanisms on the definitions of resistance profiles and (iv) the globally expanding XDR/DTR high-risk lineages and their association with transferable resistance mechanisms. Implication: The evidence presented herein can be used for coordinated epidemiological surveillance and decision-making at the European and global level

Selective reporting of antibiotic susceptibility test results in European countries: an ESCMID cross-sectional survey

International audienc

The role and utilisation of public health evaluations in Europe: a case study of national hand hygiene campaigns

To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked Files. This article is open access.Evaluations are essential to judge the success of public health programmes. In Europe, the proportion of public health programmes that undergo evaluation remains unclear. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control sought to determine the frequency of evaluations amongst European national public health programmes by using national hand hygiene campaigns as an example of intervention.A cohort of all national hand hygiene campaigns initiated between 2000 and 2012 was utilised for the analysis. The aim was to collect information about evaluations of hand hygiene campaigns and their frequency. The survey was sent to nominated contact points for healthcare-associated infection surveillance in European Union and European Economic Area Member States.Thirty-six hand hygiene campaigns in 20 countries were performed between 2000 and 2012. Of these, 50% had undergone an evaluation and 55% of those utilised the WHO hand hygiene intervention self-assessment tool. Evaluations utilised a variety of methodologies and indicators in assessing changes in hand hygiene behaviours pre and post intervention. Of the 50% of campaigns that were not evaluated, two thirds reported that both human and financial resource constraints posed significant barriers for the evaluation.The study identified an upward trend in the number of hand hygiene campaigns implemented in Europe. It is likely that the availability of the internationally-accepted evaluation methodology developed by the WHO contributed to the evaluation of more hand hygiene campaigns in Europe. Despite this rise, hand hygiene campaigns appear to be under-evaluated. The development of simple, programme-specific, standardised guidelines, evaluation indicators and other evidence-based public health materials could help promote evaluations across all areas of public health