Infectious disease

From April 1, 2014, to March 31, 2015, 95 healthcare facilities participated in the surveillance of Clostridium difficile–associated diarrhea (CDAD), for a combined total of 5,076,655 inpatient days. The participating facilities reported 3,453 cases of healthcare-associated (HA) CDAD. The incidence rate of HA CDAD was 6.8 cases per 10,000 patient days. This incidence rate was significantly lower compared to the rate of 2013–2014. The 10-day…

From April 1, 2014, to March 31, 2015, 89 healthcare facilities took part in the surveillance of healthcare-associated vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) infections, for a combined total of 4,839,578 patient days (Table 1). In total, 87 VRE infections were reported among patients who contracted strain during a current or previous hospital stay in the reporting facility (categories 1a + 1b). The incidence rate of healthcare-associated VRE infections (cat. 1a + 1b) was 0.18 / 10…

From April 1, 2013, to March 31, 2014, 89 healthcare facilities took part in the surveillance of healthcare-associated vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) infections, for a combined total of 4,948,058 patient days (Table 1). In total, 92 VRE infections were reported among patients who contracted strain during a current or previous hospital stay in the reporting facility (categories 1a + 1b). The incidence rate of healthcare-associated VRE infections (cat. 1a + 1b) was 0.19 / 10…

From April 1, 2013, to March 31, 2014, 95 healthcare facilities participated in the surveillance of Clostridium difficile–associated diarrhea (CDAD), for a combined total of 5,121,300 inpatient days. The participating facilities reported 3,661 cases of healthcare-associated (HA) CDAD. The incidence rate of HA CDAD was 7.1 cases per 10,000 patient days. This incidence rate was stable compared to the rate of 2012–2013. The 10-day…

From April 1, 2014, to March 31, 2015, 88 healthcare facilities participated in the surveillance of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bloodstream infections, for a combined total of 4,689,050 inpatient days (Table 1). Together, these facilities reported 95 cases of healthcare-associated MRSA. The incidence rate was 0.20 / 10,000 patient-days. This incidence rate has declined over the past five years but has stabilized……

From April 1, 2013, to March 31, 2014, 88 healthcare facilities participated in the surveillance of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bloodstream infections, for a combined total of 4,939,160 inpatient days. Together, these facilities reported 97 cases of healthcare-associated MRSA. The incidence rate was 0.20 / 10,000 patient-days. This incidence rate has declined over the past five years. The proportion of…

The Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) [Québec’s public health institute] has been mandated by the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (MSSS) [Québec’s ministry of health and social services] to oversee the provincial surveillance of healthcare-associated (HA) infections. The Comité sur les infections nosocomiales du Québec (CINQ) [Québec healthcare-associated infections committee] and the Comité de surveillance provinciale des infections nosocomiales (SPIN) […

Gram-negative bacilli (GNB) are bacteria frequently encountered in clinical settings, both as normal flora and as pathogens in a variety of infections. The use of antibiotics has led to the emergence of various resistance mechanisms and some of these bacteria are now resistant to several classes of antibiotics. This document has been prepared to help healthcare-associated infection prevention and control (IPC) teams recognize the major multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacilli (MDR-GNB) and…

Clostridium difficile is the leading cause of healthcare-associated infectious diarrhea in adults, affecting 0.3–2% of hospitalized patients. The epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, risk factors, diagnosis and management of cases of Clostridium difficile–associated diarrhea (CDAD) were the subject of a previous publication. The incidence of CDAD varies widely across and within institutions.

In 2003, a marked increase was observed in the incidence,…

The ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (MSSS) mandated the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) with the provincial surveillance of healthcare-associated infections (HAI), as outlined in the 2003–2012 Programme national de santé publique (Public Health Plan), revised in 2008 as well as in the 2006–2009 and 2010–2015 versions of the Plan d’action sur la prévention et le contrôle des infections nosocomiales (Action Plan for Preventing and Controlling HAIs) aimed at…