Abstract:
Background: Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are a significant healthcare burden in Canada. National surveillance of HAIs at sentinel acute care hospitals is conducted by the Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program.
Objective: To describe device and surgical procedure-related HAI epidemiology in Canada from 2020 to 2024.
Methods: Data were collected from up to 67 Canadian sentinel acute care hospitals between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2024 for intensive care unit central line-associated bloodstream infections (ICU-CLABSIs), hip and knee surgical site infections (SSIs), cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) shunt SSIs and paediatric cardiac SSIs. Case counts, rates, patient and hospital characteristics, pathogen distributions and antimicrobial resistance data are presented.
Results: Between 2020 and 2024, 1,846 device-related infections and 1,014 surgical procedure-related infections were reported. Rates of ICU-CLABSIs, hip and knee SSIs, CSF shunt SSIs and paediatric cardiac SSIs fluctuated throughout the study period, with no significant trends observed. The most commonly identified pathogens were coagulase-negative staphylococci (37%) in ICU-CLABSIs and Staphylococcus aureus (41%) in SSIs.
Conclusion: Epidemiological and microbiological trends among selected device and surgical procedure-related HAIs are essential for benchmarking infection rates nationally and internationally, identifying any changes in infection rates or antimicrobial resistance patterns and helping inform hospital infection prevention and control and antimicrobial stewardship policies and programs.
Reference:Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program1. Device and surgical procedure-related infections in Canadian acute care hospitals, 2020-2024. Can Commun Dis Rep. 2026 May 31;52(5):194-204. doi: 10.14745/ccdr.v52i05a04. PMID: 42395853; PMCID: PMC13327095.