Intermittent point prevalence surveys on healthcare-associated infections, 2011 and 2016, in England: what are the surveillance and intervention priorities?

Background: Point prevalence surveys are an important surveillance method for determining the burden of healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs).

Aim: To outline the key results of two point prevalence surveys in England (2011 and 2016).

Methods: All National Health Service and independent sector hospitals in England were eligible to participate. Data were collected between September and November in both 2011 and 2016 based on the protocol and codebook devised by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Analysis was performed using Stata Version 13 and SAS Version 9.3. A mixed-effects model was applied, which allowed estimation of organization-specific means and accounted for the heterogeneity in the responses from different organizations.

Findings: A total of 100,755 case records were included (52,433 in 2011 and 48,312 in 2016). The estimated prevalence of HCAIs was slightly higher in 2016 [6.89%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 6.21-7.57%] than in 2011 (6.41%, 95% CI 5.75-7.06%). In both surveys, the prevalence of HCAIs was highest in adult intensive care units (23.1% in 2011, 21.2% in 2016), and pneumonia/lower respiratory tract infections was the most common cause of HCAIs (22.7% in 2011 vs 29.2% in 2016). Inpatients in acute hospitals were older and had higher risk of dying in 2016 compared with 2011; however, the proportion of inpatients with HCAIs or on antibiotics did not differ significantly.

Conclusion: The burden of HCAIs in English hospitals increased slightly between 2011 and 2016. However, the proportion of inpatients with HCAIs or on antibiotics did not differ significantly.