Prevention and Treatment of Healthcare-Associated Infections

A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Medical Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2025 | Viewed by 1180

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Intensive Care Medicine Service at Centro Hospitalar Universitário São João (CHUSJ), 4200-319 Porto, Portugal 2. Medicine Department at Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal
Interests: infections in critically ill patients; antimicrobial stewardship; healthcare-associated infections; VAP; fungal infections

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Out of every 100 hospitalized patients, around seven patients in high-income countries and around ten in low-income countries acquire a healthcare-associated infection (HCAI). Among critically ill patients, a HCAI may affect 10 to 40% of all ICU patients. The enormous heterogeneity of the incidence rates shows that most HCAIs are avoidable and that adequate prevention strategies would significantly lower the incidence.

Unfortunately, HCAIs receive less public and political attention than they deserve, and social media generally only pays attention to the topic when epidemics or outbreaks occur. Moreover, the rising incidence of multi-resistance among bacteria and fungi increases the likelihood of inadequate antimicrobial selection, which worsens outcomes and/or leads to the overuse of broad-spectrum antibiotics, which stimulates a greater antibiotics resistance spiral.

This Special Issue aims to gather up-to-date research and knowledge on the best strategies for HCAI prevention, early diagnosis and cutting-edge therapy, in an era of antimicrobial resistance.

Dr. José-Artur Paiva
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Microorganisms is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • risk analysis and triage
  • epidemiological surveillance
  • bundle-approach and behavior interventions
  • fast microbiological diagnosis
  • clostridioides difficille
  • carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales
  • multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas
  • methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
  • candida auris
  • best use of new antibiotics

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

14 pages, 908 KiB  
Article
Hospital Context Determinants of Variability in Healthcare-Associated Infection Prevalence: Multi-Level Analysis
by Rui Malheiro, André Amaral Gomes, Carlos Fernandes, Ana Fareleira, Ana Lebre, Dulce Pascoalinho, João Gonçalves-Pereira, José-Artur Paiva and Rita Sá-Machado
Microorganisms 2024, 12(12), 2522; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12122522 - 7 Dec 2024
Viewed by 775
Abstract
Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) represent a major challenge in patient safety that affects services disproportionally. This paper aimed to assess how the HAI prevalence varies between hospital services and what contextual characteristics may explain such variance. A cross-sectional study was conducted on adult patients [...] Read more.
Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) represent a major challenge in patient safety that affects services disproportionally. This paper aimed to assess how the HAI prevalence varies between hospital services and what contextual characteristics may explain such variance. A cross-sectional study was conducted on adult patients in Portuguese hospitals, using data from the European point prevalence survey of HAI prevalence. The study variables included patient, structural, and process variables, tested as risk factors, with patients clustered in hospitals. Variables with a p-value ≤ 0.2 in univariate analyses were retested in a multivariable model. A total of 18,261 patients from 119 hospitals were included: 736 from 56 intensive care units (ICUs), 3160 from 72 surgical departments, and 8081 from 90 medical departments. The HAI prevalence was 7.9%, 5.9%, and 1.7%, respectively. In ICUs, only the number of devices was associated with the HAI prevalence. In surgical departments, age, comorbidities, being a specialized hospital, and a higher ratio of infection prevention and control (IPC) personnel were associated with higher SSI. The safety climate was associated with lower SSI. In medical departments, age and devices were positively associated, whereas a larger ratio of IPC nurses was negatively associated. These results may help implement targeted interventions to achieve optimal results in each department. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Prevention and Treatment of Healthcare-Associated Infections)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop