Portugal among the countries where healthcare professionals wash their hands the most

Data are part of the third Point Prevalence Survey of Healthcare-Associated Infections

Portugal, Ireland, Luxembourg, and Slovenia are the countries where healthcare professionals most adhere to hand hygiene in hospitals, according to data released today by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

The data is part of the third Point Prevalence Survey of Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs) and antimicrobials in acute care hospitals 2022-2023, coordinated by ECDC, released today at a press conference to mark World Health Hygiene Day. Hands.

Data on the number of observed hand hygiene opportunities, which reflect the intensity of monitoring of hand hygiene compliance during the most recent year, were reported by 1,022 hospitals from 23 countries in the European Union and the European Economic Area (EU/ EEE).

“The average number of hand hygiene opportunities observed in the previous year was 3.6 opportunities per 1,000 patient days, with 23.3% of hospitals not reporting any hand hygiene observations, and 3.9% of hospitals reporting more than 100 opportunities per 1,000 patient-days, mainly in Ireland, Italy and Portugal”, reads the report, to which the Lusa agency had access.

Results by country are presented as the percentage of hospitals with a number of observed hand hygiene opportunities per 1,000 patient-days greater than the median.

“The percentage of hospitals with a number of hand hygiene opportunities above the median ranged from 0% in Cyprus, Iceland, Kosovo and Montenegro to 80% or more in Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal and Slovenia”, highlights the document.

The report also highlights that the number of beds with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer dispenser at the point of care was reported by 24 EU/EEA countries, either at hospital level by 685 hospitals or at ward level by 771.

The median percentage of beds with an alcohol gel dispenser in the place of care increased from 52.8% in the 2016-2017 survey to 63% in the 2022-2023 study.

According to the data, “the percentage varied from less than 10% in Bulgaria, Romania, Kosovo and Serbia to more than 90% in Hungary, Luxembourg, Portugal and Spain”.

The percentage of antimicrobial agents administered parenterally (80%) was higher than in the previous survey (73%).

“Promoting an earlier switch from parenteral to oral administration of antimicrobial agents appears to be a priority in several Eastern European countries and in Portugal”, highlights the document.

Another conclusion of the survey points out that “the specificity for detecting and reporting an HAI [Infeções Associadas a Cuidados de Saúde] it was, on average, 98.4% and varied between 95.2% in Portugal and 100% in Lithuania.

Every year, 4.3 million patients admitted to hospitals in European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA) countries contract at least one healthcare-associated infection during their stay.

An increase in the use of antimicrobials was also observed compared to previous surveys. In the 2022-2023 study, 35.5% of patients received at least one antimicrobial agent, compared to 32.9% in the previous study (2016-2017).

On any given day, around 390,000 hospitalized patients in the EU/EEA receive at least one antimicrobial agent, says the ECDC, considering “particularly worrying the fact that one in three microorganisms detected in HAIs are bacteria resistant to important antibiotics, thus limiting the options treatment of infected patients”.

At least 20% of these infections are considered preventable through sustained and multifaceted infection prevention and control programs.