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 Oregon's 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 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 due to Candida.
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
For more information
Multidrug-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacilli (MuGSI) Surveillance
What is Multidrug-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacilli?
Gram-negative bacilli (GNB) are bacteria that frequently cause infections in both healthcare and community settings. Infections with multidrug-resistant GNB (MDR GNB) have been identified in people who are hospitalized or immunocompromised; these infections may not be treatable with available antibiotics, or they may be treatable only with antibiotics that can cause kidney and nerve damage. MDR GNB are easily transmitted and are a serious challenge for healthcare facilities.
Why do we care?
The emergence of antimicrobial resistance has raised the importance of these organisms as a public health problem, as new classes of antibiotics are not expected to be available for many years. Oregon has joined four other EIP sites in an active, laboratory-based surveillance project, in order to increase our understanding of this emerging problem, to define the population at risk, and to inform prevention efforts.
What is Oregon doing about it?
- Evaluating the population-based incidence of carbapenem-nonsusceptibility among common strains of Enterobacteriaceae and Acinetobacter baumannii, and describing how incidence changes over time
- Characterizing carbapenem-nonsusceptible strains in order to improve prevention efforts
- Describing known resistance mechanisms among certain carbapenem-nonsusceptible Enterobacteriaceae
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, however, 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 research
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
For more information