Dtsch Arztebl Int
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Multicenter Study
Nosocomial infection and antibiotic use: a second national prevalence study in Germany.
In 2011, seventeen years after the first national study on the prevalence of nosocomial infections and antibiotic use in German hospitals, a second national prevalence study was carried out according to the specifications of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). ⋯ The prevalence of nosocomial infection has not changed since 1994, but the prevalence of antibiotic use has increased. In interpreting these findings, one should bear in mind that confounders may have influenced them in different directions: The mean length of hospital stay is now shorter than in 1994, but the mean age of hospitalized patients is higher.
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Nosocomial pneumonia is among the most common types of infection in hospitalized patients. The increasing prevalence of multi-drug resistant organisms (MDROs) in recent years points to the need for an up-to-date clinical guideline. ⋯ The new guideline's recommendations are intended to encourage rational use of antibiotics, so that antimicrobial treatment will be highly effective while the unnecessary selection of multi-drug-resistant organisms will be avoided.