Prevalence of hospital-acquired infection in a Lithuanian hospital.

A prevalence survey in the biggest Lithuanian hospital was undertaken as part of the hospital infection control programme in Lithuania, in collaboration with Statens Seruminstitut, Denmark, to introduce modern methods and technologies in infection control. It aimed to test the methodology of prevalence studies identifying features of community- and hospital-acquired infections, use of clinical microbiology and antibiotics. It was found that 27.3% of all patients had an infection at the time of the survey. The prevalence rate of community-acquired infection (CAI) was 20.5% and of hospital-acquired infection (HAI), 9.2%. Almost one third of all HAI were acquired in other hospitals but still active at the time of the survey. HAIs were more prevalent in children (14.9%) than in adult patients (7.7%). The prevalence of HAI varied from 1.0% in neurological departments to 61.5% in the burns unit. Respiratory tract infections were the most common accounting up to 49.1% of all HAI and 28.3% of CAI. At the time of survey 26.0% of patients were receiving antibiotic treatment although more than one third of these were recorded as having no infection. Microbiological investigations were performed in 41.1% cases of HAI. In this hospital, the survey data indicated an array of preventive priorities which will be exploited during the current hospital infection control programme. A national prevalence study is planned using the experience gained.