VICNISS together with stakeholders have developed a definition that clarifies a peripheral intravenous catheter (PIVC) associated Staphylococcus aureus blood stream infection (SAB) as distinct from a central venous catheter (CVC) associated SAB.
Read more...VICNISS currently provides health services surgical antibiotic prophylaxis reports, which include compliance with antibiotic choice, timing and duration. You will have noticed changes to the SAP data fields in the revised manual (July 2019). This information will allow antibiotics, that the patient is receiving for treatment of infection, to be included in assessment of surgical prophylaxis.
Read more...The CPE TRA list has recently been updated on 9 October 2019
Read more...Monday 9th December VICNISS will be hosting a half day workshop on surgical site surveillance designed for ICPs new to surveillance or those who would like a refresher. Topics covered will include collection of data, infection definitions, antimicrobial prophylaxis and understanding reports.
Read more...Recently Victorian Parliament passed legislation to amend the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008
Read more...The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care recently revised their Implementation Guide for Surveillance of Central Line Associated Bloodstream Infection (CLABSI) in Australian public and private hospitals
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VICNISS is a partner in the National Centre for Antimicrobial Stewardship (NCAS). The multiple areas of overlap between antimicrobial stewardship and infection control mean NCAS and VICNISS are working collaboratively on many joint projects.
Some of these include:
Resources such as guidelines, root cause analysis/ audit tools and fact sheets can be found on the following link: https://www.ncas-australia.org/
Many healthcare associated infections are preventable. As a consumer of healthcare, you may wish to know more about how to prevent acquiring an infection during your hospital stay. Consumer facts sheets have been developed to support the messages on healthcare associated infection contained in the NHMRC Australian Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of Infection in Healthcare. These fact sheets aim to inform patients, visitors, families and carers about healthcare associated infection, what activities healthcare facilities have in place to prevent infections and/or to limit the spread of infections.
The current fact sheets can be accessed via the NHMRC website here
Click on the Go to Downloads button to find the brochures for the following:
Healthcare Associated Infections (HAI)
Clostridioides difficile (CDI)
Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci (VRE)
There is a vast amount of information available on the internet in relation to healthcare associated infections some of which may not be accurate. If you wish to know more regarding infection prevention; contact the Infection Prevention team at your hospital, or you can use the recommended links of reputable websites below.
