Infections related to medical treatment at intensive care units have declined over the past decade, the Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said Thursday.

KCDC attributed the lower rate to continuous monitoring and maintenance by the Korean National Healthcare-associated Infections Surveillance System (KONIS).

According to the KCDC data, the total number of infections, including urinary tract infections, blood stream infections, pneumonia, fell per 1,000 in-stay days.

The number of total infections fell from 7.21 (2006-2011) to 3.40 (2012-2016). Urinary tract infections dropped from 3.82 to 1.07 in the same period. Bloodstream infections fell from 1.99 to 1.42 while pneumonia fell from 1.41 to 0.91.

Concerning insertion device-related infections, catheter-related urinary tract infections, central venous-related blood infections, and ventilator-associated pneumonia decreased.

Catheter-related infections decreased from 4.41 (2006-2011) to 1.26 (2012-2016), central venous-related blood infections fell from 3.11 to 2.40, and ventilator-related pneumonia fell from 2.11 to 1.38.

There was no significant change in equipment usage, previously known to be closely correlated with the number of medical infections.

KCDC emphasized the necessity of preemptive protective measures by expanding the monitoring system not only in ICUs but in small- and medium-sized hospitals.

The government agency said it would publish standard prevention guidelines to introduce standard rules for disease prevention and encourage the practice. The guidelines can be downloaded at their homepage.

“We will continue to make efforts to improve treatment quality by training practitioners while contributing to government policies, to ultimately reduce healthcare-related infections Korea,” the KCDC said.

yjc@docdocdoc.co.kr

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