Background: Expected rates of healthcare-associated infections (HCAI) have not been established in veterinary hospitals. Baseline rates are critically needed as benchmarks for quality animal care.Objective: To estimate the occurrence of events related to HCAI identified using a standardized syndromic surveillance system in small animals in critical care cases at referral hospitals.Animals: Weaned dogs and cats (n = 1,951) that were hospitalized in the critical care unit of referral teaching hospitals during a 12-week period.Methods: Multicenter, prospective longitudinal study. A survey was completed for all enrolled animals to record basic demographics, information about procedures and treatments that animals received, and to document the occurrence of defined nosocomial syndromes. Data were analyzed to identify risk factors associated with the occurrence of these nosocomial syndromes.Results: Controlling for hospital of admission, 16.3% of dogs (95% confidence intervals [CI], 14.3-18.5) and 12% of cats (95% CI, 9.3-15.5) were reported to have had ≥1 nosocomial syndrome occur during hospitalization. Risk factors found to have a positive association with the development of a nosocomial syndrome were longer hospital stays, placement of a urinary catheter, surgical procedures being performed, and the administration of antiulcer medications and antimicrobial drugs excluding those given perioperatively.Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Syndromic surveillance systems can be successfully standardized for use across multiple hospitals to effectively collect data pertinent to HCAI rates and risk factors for occurrence.

SummaryReasons for performing study: Methods that can be used to estimate rates of healthcare-associated infections and other nosocomial events have not been well established for use in equine hospitals. Traditional laboratory-based surveillance is expensive and cannot be applied in all of these settings. Objectives: To evaluate the use of a syndromic surveillance system for estimating rates of occurrence of healthcare-associated infections among hospitalised equine cases. Study design: Multicentre, prospective longitudinal study. Methods: This study included weaned equids (n = 297) that were admitted for gastrointestinal disorders at one of 5 participating veterinary referral hospitals during a 12-week period in 2006. A survey form was completed by the primary clinician to summarise basic case information, procedures and treatments the horse received, and whether one or more of 7 predefined nosocomial syndromes were recognised at any point during hospitalisation. Adjusted rates of nosocomial events were estimated using Poisson regression. Risk factors associated with the risk of developing a nosocomial event were analysed using multivariable logistic regression. Results: Among the study population, 95 nosocomial events were reported to have occurred in 65 horses. Controlling for differences among hospitals, 19.7% (95% confidence interval, 14.5-26.7) of the study population was reported to have had at least one nosocomial event recognised during hospitalisation. The most commonly reported nosocomial syndromes that were unrelated to the reason for hospitalisation were surgical site inflammation and i.v. catheter site inflammation. Conclusions: Syndromic surveillance systems can be standardised successfully for use across multiple hospitals without interfering with established organisational structures, in order to provide useful estimates of rates related to healthcare-associated infections.

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We have observed the superconductivity of a Nb 3 Sn wire in pulsed magnetic fields of 185 kgauss. When extrapolated to negligible measuring current, the critical field of this specimen appears to be about 188 kgauss at 1.6°K.The wire was prepared by the NBS Metallurgy Division. They followed the procedure outlined by Kunzler et al. , x except that the wire was swaged rather than drawn to final diameter (0.50 mm). The 12-cm long specimens were annealed in a vacuum for 16 hours at 1000°C, after which the sample ends were etched in 2H2S0 4 + 2HN0 3 + HF and then immediately tinned in a bath of molten indium. Current and potential leads were attached using indium solder. The sample was oriented parallel to the field of a pulsed magnet having an i.d. = 1.4 cm and a length of 6.4 cm. Current and potential leads to the sample were thus completely outside of the magnet.The magnetic field as a function of time is shown as the upper trace in Fig. 1. The field rises to a peak of 185 kgauss in 7 msec. The lower trace in the figure is the voltage across