Caracterización de los programas de prevención y control de infecciones en instituciones hospitalarias de Medellín - Colombia, 2011

Objectives: To characterize the infection prevention and control programs of 16 hospitals in Medellin, Colombia, 2011. Methods: This study was performed by a local surveillance network for antibiotic resistance (GERMEN Group), with technical and financial support from the Secretaría de Salud de Medellín. A survey, adapted from the Rapid Evaluation Guide for Hospital Programs for Prevention and Control of Nosocomial Infections of Panamerican Health Organization, 2011 was conducted to each institution. Results: The results revealed that all of the institutions have committees for infection prevention and control. The search for healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) is conducted by nursing assistants in 68.8% of these institutions. All of the institutions have definitions for the diagnosis of HAIs, using different versions of the international recommended guidelines. All of the institutions have protocols for hand hygiene, standard precautions and isolation, and 62.5% have a protocol for the study of outbreaks. All of the institutions have pharmacy and therapy committees, and 68.8% have programs for the rational use of antibiotics. All of the microbiology laboratories are equipped to identify microorganisms and to perform susceptibility test; 33.3% have protocols for the preservation of isolates. Conclusions: The creation of committees by institutional directive, the surveillance strategies and written protocols for the prevention and control of HAIs, as well as the capabilities of the microbiology laboratories are a number of the strengths found. However, there was a lackof standardization and shortcomings in the training of personnel and in the programs for the rational use of antibiotics.