Antibiotic monitoring as a surveillance tool for nosocomial infections

A programme for surveillance of nosocomial infections utilizing antibiotic review was developed and carried out at Saint Barnabas Medical Center, Livingston, New Jersey, USA. Over a 6-month period 1083 charts were reviewed on the surgical units by an infection control practitioner utilizing two methods of surveillance for nosocomial infections. The first method utilized positive laboratory cultures, admission data and head nurse interviews. The second method used a prevalence study of all surgical patients on antibiotic therapy and all positive culture reports. A comparison of both methods revealed that all nosocomial infections were realized using antibiotic review. It was also noted that 16.2 per cent of nosocomial infections were missed by not using antibiotic review as a surveillance tool. We also noted that the overall percentage of patients with nosocomial infections not cultured was 10.5 per cent. Our conclusions were that antibiotic review is a useful instrument that can successfully be incorporated into any currently existing infection control surveillance programme.