Evidence-based infection control strategies that focus specifically on pediatric hospitals are needed to standardize pediatric healthcare-associated infection prevention, according to a recent study from Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.
Researchers conducted surveys with hospital epidemiologists from 28 members of the Children's Hospital Association between September 2013 and January 2014.
Surveys included questions on their respective program structures, infection prevention and control personnel, antimicrobial stewardship programs, employee vaccination policies and HAI surveillance and reporting practices.
Ultimately, the researchers revealed a great deal of variety among the hospitals' infection prevention and control programs.
Highlighted below are 10 findings from the study.
- Of the 28 hospitals that responded, all had at least one physician hospital epidemiologist, eight hospitals had more than one.
- Fifteen of the 28 primary epidemiologists had completed the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America training courses, and eight held advanced degrees or training in epidemiology or public health.
- On average, the hospitals had 0.99 infection preventionists per 100 hospital beds.
- Half of the programs (14 programs) had computer software specifically dedicated to infection prevention activities and slightly more than half (16 programs) had infection prevention-dedicated data analysts.
- Roughly two thirds (19 hospitals or 68 percent) of the programs had mandatory influenza vaccine programs for staff. Mandatory vaccine programs for other conditions included measles (61 percent), varicella (54 percent) and pertussis (25 percent).
- A majority of the hospitals (22 hospitals or 79 percent) reported active surveillance programs for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, of which 19 (86 percent) screened for MRSA at the time of admission in specific units.
- In 11 hospitals (39 percent) children with respiratory symptoms were placed in isolation when a test was ordered, whereas in 17 hospitals (61 percent) they were isolated based on symptoms alone.
- Children with MRSA and multidrug-resistant, gram-negative rod infections were identified and isolated if they tested positive in 75 percent and 86 percent of hospitals. respectively.
- The No. 1 barrier identified by hospital epidemiologists to effective infection prevention efforts was a lack of awareness by healthcare providers.
- Nineteen respondents (68 percent) felt mandatory HAI public reporting policies would benefit pediatric infection prevention efforts, and 15 epidemiologists (54 percent) felt policies holding hospitals financially accountable for HAIs improved prevention efforts.
Survey respondents represented 20 states in all geographic regions of the continental U.S. and had an average of 328 hospital beds.