No abstract

H ealth care-associated infections represent substantial burden on health care systems in highly developed countries, including Canada. 1-3 In 2002, health careassociated infection developed in an estimated 5% of patients admitted to hospital in the United States, resulting in 1.7 million infections and 98 000 deaths. 1 A study using 2015 data from the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network (EARS-Net) from 30 countries estimated 426 277 infections with antibioticresistant bacteria were associated with health care, with an attributable mortality of 33 110. 2 A point-prevalence study conducted in 2015 estimated that there were 687 200 health careassociated infections in US hospitals. 3 Timely data on the occurrence of health care-associated infections and antimicrobial resistant organisms in Canadian hospitals are essential to the response to an evolving epidemiologic situation. Internationally, prevalence surveys are widely used to estimate the incidence and burden of disease from these infections. 3-10 The Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program RESEARCH HEALTH SERVICES