Device-associated infections surveillance in neonatal intensive care units

Abstract

The surveillance for device-associated infections in the Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) includes central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) and ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). NICUs are stratified into two levels according to patient severity and into five categories according to birth-weight. The facilities with zero CLABSI account for 75％ of the distribution of the CLABSI incidence density rate. This data was compared with the 2013 National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) data using a standardized infection ratio of 0.8. The incidence density rates of CLABSI are comparable with that of NHSN data. The device utilization (DU) of the central line is lower in the Japanese Healthcare-associated Infections Surveillance (JHAIS) data than that in the NHSN data. The incidence density rates of VAP was compared with the 2013 NHSN data using a standardized infection ratio of 2.1, which suggests that more VAPs are occurring in Japan than in the United States. The ventilator DU are comparable with that of NHSN data.