Tasmanian Acute Public Hospitals Healthcare Associated Infection Surveillance Report 25 - Quarter 1 2015

Abstract

This quarterly surveillance report provides an overview of the Tasmanian acute public hospitals healthcare associated infection surveillance. The TIPCU website (www.dhhs.tas.gov.au/tipcu) contains details of the surveillance program and the methodologies used in data collection, validation and analysis. These details are not contained in this report but are freely available online should further information be required. Any form of comparison between hospitals should be done with extreme caution because data are not adjusted for patient characteristics that varies between hospitals. Further, the relatively small Tasmanian population and small number of events can result in volatility of rates from time to time. The raw data in the Appendices illustrates this. Information about how overall Tasmanian rates compare with those of other Australian states where available, are provided in the Key Points sections of this report. This report demonstrates the following findings: • The rate of healthcare associated Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia remains low. • The rate and number of both hospital identified Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) and healthcare associated – healthcare facility onset Clostridium difficile infection (HCA – HCF) have decreased in Q1 2015 compared with Q4 2014. • The number of vancomycin resistant enterococcus identified has continued to increase.