Can we apply the European surveillance program of nosocomial infections (HELICS) to pediatric intensive care units?
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the applicability of the HELICS program [part of the “Improving Patient Safety in Europe” program aiming at controlling nosocomial infections (NI) through surveillance] in European pediatric ICUs. DESIGN AND SETTING: A comparison of HELICS and pediatric definitions of the main NI was performed. The adaptability of the HELICS questionnaire for pediatric patients was examined. Then a European survey was carried out by e-mail questionnaire to analyze NI surveillance programs. PARTICIPANTS: Units affiliated with the European Society of Paediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care or the French Groupe Francophone de Réanimation et Urgences Pédiatriques. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: The main differences between adult and pediatric ICUs were the definition of ICU-acquired pneumonia, severity scores at admission, and scores of risk for NI. A total of 65 answers from 23 countries were collected. Among them 56 had a NI surveillance program that was of local origin for 64%. The most
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