Page 20 - policy and procedure infection control

Policies and Procedures on Infection Control

Type of Surveillance Methods

Periodic Surveillance  Surveillance performed at specified intervals (e.g. every
three months); each time, the focus is on one specific
infection site or on a definite patient population at
increased risk of infection.

 In another version, periodic surveillance is performed
on one or several units for a specified time period and
then shifts to another unit or units. By rotating from
unit to unit, infection control specialists are able to
survey the entire hospital during the year.

 Advantage: leaves more time for other measures.
 Disadvantage: protracted time required to accumulate
sufficient data for establishing valid baselines.
Prevalence studies  The number of active infections is counted over a
specified time period. Active infections are defined as
all manifest infections present at the time of the survey
or patient is still under treatment for the infection.
 Advantage: this is usually a quick method. It can provide
adequate data on epidemiologically important infections
within a facility and can serve as a basis for developing
of future targeted surveillance.

 Disadvantages: Results must be very carefully
interpreted. Prevalence rates are usually higher than
incidence rates
 One cannot draw conclusions infection risk factors. It
is important to choose the correct denominator.
 This method can be useful for validating data from of
total surveillance.
Targeted :  The focus in this type of epidemiological surveillance is
- “High risk” patients on patients at increased risk of nosocomial infections
(e.g: post-surgical patients, ICU patients, and patients
receiving mechanical ventilation).

 The denominator of the incidence rate formula should
contain only data on patients belonging to the “high
risk” group.
 Infection risk indices can and must be used.

Ministry of Health Malaysia 9