Healthcare-associated infections in Northern Russia: Results of ten point-prevalence surveys in 2006-2010

Background and objective: Statistics on healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) in Russia is scarce and has been considered to suffer from underreporting. We assessed the prevalence and changes in the prevalence of HAIs over 5 years and identified factors associated with acquiring HAIs in the pediatric hospital in Arkhangelsk, Northern Russia.

Materials and methods: Ten cross-sectional studies were conducted in the Arkhangelsk regional pediatric hospital biannually during 2006-2010. We used a standardized protocol, including the criteria of HAI proposed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Binary logistic regression was applied to study factors associated with HAI.

Results: Altogether, 3264 inpatients were enrolled in the study and 347 of them had HAI (11.2%). The prevalence of HAI per survey ranged from 7.1% (95% CI: 4.8%-10.4%) to 16.7% (95% CI: 13.1%-21.2%). The most prevalent HAIs were upper respiratory tract infections 5.1% (95% CI: 4.4%-5.9%), followed by urinary tract infections, 1.5% (95% CI: 1.2%-2.0%), and acute gastroenteritis, 1.4% (95% CI: 1.1%-1.9%). Compared to infants, children aged 5-9 years (OR=0.7, 95% CI: 0.4-1.0), 10-14 years (OR=0.4, 95% CI: 0.3-0.7), and ≥15 years (OR=0.3, 95% CI: 0.2-0.5) were less likely to have HAI. Neutropenia (OR=1.5, 95% CI: 1.0-2.3) and use of intravascular catheter(s) (OR=1.8, 95% CI: 1.1-3.0) were positively associated with HAI.

Conclusions: The observed prevalence of HAIs is within the range reported in several other European countries. We do not recommend generalizing our findings to other Russian settings given considerable variations between regions in both socio-economic situation and conditions of medical facilities.