Surveillance and control of infections in long-term care: the Canadian experience

In 1980, the Laboratory Centre for Disease Control, Health Protection Branch, Department of National Health and Welfare Canada, established the Bureau of Infection Control in response to a growing need for an infection control resource at the national level. Until that time, there had been no federal programs in Canada for surveillance and control of infections in health care facilities. Initial efforts in the development of infection control programs focused on acute care facilities. In 1985, a specific need was identified to develop better surveillance and control of infections in long-term care facilities. Several national initiatives have been undertaken to meet this need, including the preparation and publication of an infection control guideline specifically for long-term care facilities, a national survey of Canadian long-term facilities, and the stimulation of research to evaluate new criteria for nosocomial infections in a selected number of Canadian long-term care facilities.