Point prevalence survey on healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial use in Ukrainian acute care hospitals: results of the pilot survey in 2021

Background According to official statistics, 2611 cases of health care associated infections (HAI) were reported in 2019 in Ukraine, however true burden of HAI remains unknown. The pilot point prevalence survey (PPS) of HAI and antimicrobial use was organized in Ukrainian acute care hospitals in 2021 to assess prevalence of HAI and antimicrobial use. Methods Five acute healthcare facilities participated in the point prevalence survey applying European Centre’s for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) protocol “Point prevalence survey of healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial use in European acute care hospitals” (version 5.3). Hospital and patient data were collected during March-April 2021. In total, 1,373 patients were included. Analysis of data was conducted using HelicsWin.Net (HWN). Results The HAI prevalence among the five hospitals was 5,7% (95% CI: 4,5% – 6,9%). 93% of HAI were detected during the period of hospitalization, and 7% were present on admission and were associated with another hospital. HAI prevalence was 16,7% in intensive care units, and 7,6% in surgical units. HAIs were less prevalent in medical and obstetrics/gynecology units − 3,0% and 1,9% respectively. Surgical site infections were the most prevalent type of HAI – 33,7%. Antimicrobial (AM) prescription prevalence was 36.9% (CI 95% 34.5–39.5%). Conclusions The PPS was instrumental to raise awareness regarding HAI and antimicrobial use. The pilot PPS results indicate that current official statistics may not quantify the actual HAI burden in the country. A nationwide PPS is highly recommended to further understand the extent of the HAI burden in Ukraine, and to support implementation of tailored infection prevention and control measures.