The Alberta Health Services IPC program partners with the Covenant Health to collect surveillance data at every acute care facility in the province.
IPC works with all AHS staff to prevent healthcare acquired infections and improve patient safety.
Surveillance is an essential component of Infection Prevention and Control. If carried out in a uniform manner, surveillance provides a measure of the burden of illness, establishes benchmark rates for internal and external comparison, identifies potential risk factors, and allows assessment of specific interventions.
Reporting of Hand Hygiene compliance is one of AHS’ monitoring measures of safety. Hand hygiene is an effective strategy to reduce transmission of infection in the healthcare setting and can be used to monitor how our health system is performing. These measures are reported quarterly.
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Ismail, A., Leal, J., Au, F., Puloski, S., Mponponsuo, K., Smith, S., & Rennert-May, E. (2022). Retrospective analysis of the management strategies for surgical site infection post total hip or knee arthroplasty from tertiary care centres in Edmonton, Alberta. Journal of Hospital Infection, 129, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhin.2022.07.015
Leal, J., Jefferson, T., & Conly, J. (2022). SARS-CoV-2 Exposures of Healthcare Workers and Acquisition of COVID-19. Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 28 (11), 1403-1405. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmi.2022.07.012
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Rennert-May, E., Leal, J., Thang, N. X., Lang, E., Dowling, S., Manns, B., Wasylak, T., & Ronksley, P. E. (2021).The impact of COVID-19 on hospital admissions and emergency department visits: a population-based study. PLoS ONE, 2021; 16(6):e0252441. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0252441
Rennert-May, E., Raj, S., Leal, J., Exner, D., Manns, B., & Chew, D. (2021). An economic evaluation of an antibiotic impregnated envelope for preventing infection in cardiac implantable electronic devices. Eurospace, 23(5), 767-774 E156. https://doi.org/10.9778/cmajo.20200246
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Crocker, A., Kornilo, A., Conly, J., Henderson, E., Rennert-May, E., & Leal, J. (2020). Using administrative data to determine rates of surgical site infections following spinal fusion and laminectomy procedures. American Journal of Infection Control, 49(6), 759-763. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2020.10.010
Laupland, K. & Leal, J. (2020). Defining microbial invasion of the bloodstream: A structured review. Infectious Diseases, 52(6), 391-395. https://doi.org/10.1080/23744235.2020.1727948
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Bush, K., Ellison, J., Hearn, K., Pfister, T., & Taylor, G. (2019). A comparison of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) – producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae bloodstream infections in Alberta using a provincial surveillance system. Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, 40(3), 388.
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Leal, J. R., Conly, J., Weaver, R., Wick, J., Henderson, E. A., Manns, B., & Ronksley, P. (2019). Attributable costs and length of stay of hospital-acquired Clostridioides difficile: A population-based matched cohort study in Alberta, Canada. Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, 40(10), 1135-1143. https://doi.org/10.1017/ice.2019.178
Martin, P., Nour Abou Chakra, C., Williams, V., Bush, K., Dyck, M., Hirji, Z., Kiss, A., Larios, O. E., McGeer, A., Moore, C., Weiss, K., & Simor, A. E. (2019). Prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms in Canadian hospitals: Comparison of point-prevalence survey results from 2010, 2012, and 2016. Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, 40(1), 53-59.
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Rennert-May, E., Conly, J.M., Leal, J., Smith, S., Manns, B. (2018). Economic evaluations and their use in infection prevention and control: a narrative review. Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control, 7(31), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13756-018-0327-z.
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Best Practices for Surveillance of Health Care-associated Infections in Patient and Resident Populations Provincial Infectious Disease Advisory Committees (PIDAC, Ontario), 2014
Canadian Institute for Health Information, The CIHI Data Quality Framework, 2009. Ottawa, ON; CIHI, 2009
Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program (CNISP) Monitors healthcare-associated infections at Canadian healthcare facilities and publishes infection control guidelines.
CDC/NHSN Surveillance Definitions for Specific Types of Infections Center for Disease Control, 2017
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Updated guidelines for evaluating public health surveillance systems: recommendations from the guidelines working group. Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2001; 50:14-24
Recommended practices for surveillance: Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology Am J Infect Control 2007;35:427-40