Repeated multi-centre prevalence surveys of hospital-acquired infection in Greek hospitals. CICNet. Cretan Infection Control Network.

Three prevalence studies for the estimation of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) were carried out in eight Greek hospitals on an annual basis during the years 1994-1996. The overall prevalence of HAI was 6.8, 5.5 and 5.9% for the three years, respectively. Among these, urinary tract infections ranged from 22.4 to 38.2%, lower respiratory tract infections ranged from 21.1 to 32.6%, surgical site infections ranged from 14.6 to 22.7% and bloodstream infections ranged from 9.0 to 13.2%. The prevalence of antibiotic usage among the hospitalized patients was found to be 49.3% in 1994, 47.3% in 1995 and 52.7% in 1996. Unjustified prescription of prophylactic usage was found to be the major component of these high percentages. Appropriate use of antibiotics for prophylaxis is one of the priorities of the current infection control programmes. The development of a nationwide network for the surveillance of HAIs in Greece is planned using the experience gained.