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Oregon Health Authority

Emerging-Infections-Program

HAI Surveillance Activities through Oregon EIP

See also: HAI Special Studies

Note Along with Oregon’s state healthcare-associated infection (HAI) activities, there are a number of HAI surveillance and prevention activities that are part of Oregons Emerging Infections Program (EIP). Our partners in the EIP Program include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, and Tennessee. For more information, visit the CDC’s EIP website

Candidemia Surveillance

What is candidemia?

Candida species is a type of yeast commonly found in the gastrointestinal and female genital tracts, but can sometimes cause disease. Most infections can be easily treated. Healthy individuals are at a low risk of invasive disease.

Immunocompromised patients (e.g., cancer patients) and patients with central venous catheters (CVCs), are at increased risk of invasive Candida bloodstream infections, called candidemia. Candidemia is most often acquired in the healthcare setting and can be deadly.

Why do we care?

Candida species are the fourth most common cause of healthcare-associated bloodstream infections in the U.S. Invasive disease caused by Candida is deadly. In Oregon, nearly one-quarter of cases die.

What is Oregon doing about it?

  • Estimating the incidence of candidemia by conducting active, population-based surveillance in the Portland tricounty-area

  • Estimating the prevalence of antifungal drug resistance in Candida species

  • Exploring candidemia’s regional patterns and trends over time

  • Providing data on risk factors and clinical outcomes of patients with candidemia in order to target prevention efforts

EIP partners in the candidemia project include Georgia, Maryland, Oregon, and Tennessee. For more information, visit the CDC’s EIP website.

Reports

Multidrug-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacilli (MuGSI) Surveillance

What is Multidrug-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacilli?

Gram-negative bacilli (GNB) are bacteria that can cause infections in hospitals and the community. Multidrug-resistant GNB (MDR GNB) are a type of these bacteria that are hard to treat, especially in people who are very sick or have weak immune systems. Sometimes, the antibiotics used to treat MDR GNB don’t work, or they can cause serious side effects like kidney or nerve damage. These bacteria spread easily and are a big problem for hospitals and healthcare centers.

Why do we care?

The rise of antibiotic resistance has made these germs a serious public health problem because new antibiotics won’t be available for many years. Oregon is working with four other sites on a project to study this problem. The goal is to learn more about who is at risk and to find ways to prevent it.

What is Oregon doing about it?

  • Studying how often certain bacteria that resist carbapenem antibiotics (like some Enterobacterales and Acinetobacter baumannii) show up in the population and how this changes over time.
  • Learning more about these resistant bacteria to help stop their spread.
  • Looking at the ways these bacteria resist carbapenem antibiotics to better understand the problem.

EIP partners in the MuGSI project include Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, and Oregon. For more information, visit the CDC’s EIP website.

For more information

Clostridioides difficile Surveillance

What is C. difficile?

Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) is a bacterium that produces toxins that cause diarrhea and more serious intestinal conditions.

C. difficile infections are almost always linked to medical care; people who take antibiotics and also receive medical care are most at risk. States have reported increased rates of C. difficile infection, noting more severe disease and an increase in mortality. Death rates due to C. difficile are highest in the elderly. Almost half of infections occur in people <65 years of age. These changes may be largely due to the emergence of a stronger C. difficile strain that appears more virulent and is more resistant to the antibiotics traditionally used to treat C. difficile.

Why do we care?

C. difficile infections are a leading cause of patient harm in the U.S. medical system and are responsible for 337,000 infections and 14,000 deaths every year. Data from this project will help inform future policy and prevention strategies to reduce C. difficile disease.

What is Oregon doing about it?

  • Determining the population-based incidence of community– and healthcare-associated C. difficile infection

  • Characterizing C. difficile strains that are responsible for infections, with a focus on strains infecting community-associated cases

  • Describing the epidemiology of community– and healthcare–associated C. difficile infection and generating hypotheses for future researched

EIP partners in the C. difficile project include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Tennessee. For more information, visit the CDC’s EIP website.

Reports