Healthcare Associated Infections-Community Interface (HAIC)

Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimicrobial Use Prevalence Surveys

Healthcare-associated Infections (HAIs) and Antimicrobial Use (AU) Prevalence Surveys are conducted at 10 Emerging Infections Program (EIP) sites in the United States. HAIs are an important public health problem because of their devastating effects on the wellbeing of patients, in addition to the billions of dollars in unnecessary expense they add to the healthcare system. Research suggests that a growing number of HAIs are caused by organisms that have developed resistance to standard antimicrobial drugs. Understanding AU in hospital and nursing home settings is an important part of identifying the connections between improper AU and development of HAIs. The purpose of the surveyis to examine the number and type of HAIs and AU in hospitals and nursing homes and to identify the reasons antimicrobial drugs are used in these settings. This information will help create policies and procedures to make healthcare safer for patients in U.S. healthcare facilities.

Candidemia Surveillance

The Emerging Infections Program (EIP) conducts candidemia surveillance in ten EIP sites throughout the United States. The purpose of this surveillance system is to describe epidemiological characteristics of candidemia, such as incidence, Candida species distribution, antifungal drug resistance, treatment practices, and outcomes on a local and national level, with the aim of developing and implementing effective prevention and control strategies.

Clostridioides difficile formerly Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) Surveillance

The Connecticut EIP C. difficile surveillance project monitors the incidence of healthcare (HA) and community-associated (CA) CDI at the population level, tracks changes over time, identifies at-risk populations, estimates disease burden and social determinants of health inequity.