Reports on the epidemiology of HAIs

Since 2020, Swissnoso has provided an overview of the epidemiological situation regarding healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) in Switzerland, based on data collected by existing surveillance systems and on the experience of hospitals.

According to regularly conducted surveys, the prevalence of HAIs in Swiss acute care hospitals is between 5.4% and 5.9%, which corresponds to the European average. These data were confirmed by the results of the second national point prevalence survey in 2022: of the almost 14,000 patients surveyed, 5.9% had a healthcare-associated infection. These surveys have also shown that the proportion of healthcare-associated infections caused by multi-drug resistant organisms (MDROs) is lower in Switzerland than in neighbouring countries.

Significant long-term reduction in infection rates

In addition to the data collected by Swissnoso since 2017 and the publicly available data, an important source of information is the continuous monitoring of surgical site infections (SSIs). Since 2009 this has also been done by Swissnoso under the ANQ mandate. Between June 2009 and September 2022, 591,762 surgeries were documented in the database. Since the introduction of this nationwide monitoring there has been a significant decrease in infection rates for selected surgical procedures.  The downward trend in infection rates is very positive. This development may be partially due to nationwide monitoring and to the publication of the results of each institution on the ANQ web portal, which allows the institutions to compare themselves with each other on an annual basis. Even though this rate appears to be higher than in other countries, the comparison should be treated with caution because of differences in methodology and uncertainties about the validity of the data collected internationally.

Overview of HAI control and prevention activities

These reports on the epidemiology of HAIs are written by Swissnoso as part of its consultancy mandate with the FOPH. They provide information on all activities and measures taken by Swissnoso to combat and prevent HAIs as part of the NOSO strategy. For example, they provide an overview of the development of the national monitoring system, but also of antibiotic resistance. Recommendations are made on the basis of the observations.

Links

Subscribe to the NOSO newsletter (available only in German, French and Italian)

Annual epidemiological reports

Surgical Site Infections (in German)

Last modification 06.11.2024