UNIVERSITY Hospital Limerick (UHL) had a higher than average rate of patients being diagnosed with infections, including Covid, while being treated in hospital for an unrelated complaint, according to a new EU-wide snapshot survey.
The report from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, taken in May 2023, covers patients in all acute hospitals nationally, as well as private hospitals. It found 932 patients nationwide had an active healthcare-acquired infection – an average rate of 7.4 per cent.
In Limerick, UHL had an infection rate of 11 per, cent while Croom Orthopaedic saw 12.3 per cent of patients catching one or more infections while in hospital.
University Maternity Hospital Limerick had a rate of 2.2 per cent, while the Bon Secours private facility in the county and Ennis Hospital both got a clean slate with zero per cent infections at the time of the survey.
Bantry Hospital in Cork topped the table with a hospital-acquired infection prevalence of 26.1 per cent, followed by Roscommon Hospital (21 per cent) and Kilcreene Orthopaedic Hospital in Kilkenny (13 per cent).
All Irish acute hospitals, 50 public and 15 private facilities, took part.
Of the 12,587 patients surveyed in that month across Ireland, a total of 932 had active hospital-associated infections, with 18 having two or more infections.
One of the red flags for acquiring a hospital infection was identified as congestion due to overcrowding.
In one third of cases, the infection happened in the hospital identified but in some instances, patients arrived from other hospitals or nursing homes already carrying it.
The top three hospital-associated infections nationwide were pneumonia at 27 per cent, urinary tract infections at 15 per cent, and surgical site infections at 14 per cent. Covid-19 accounted for 8 per cent of infections.
The Point Prevalence Survey of healthcare-associated infections took place in May 2023 and was organised by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) with other European countries doing similar surveys.
