Proportion of inpatients with healthcare-associated infections from 2017 to 2020 [1]. 17 Healthcare-associated infections increased overall, but not all types For example, the 2021 BARMER Hospital Report, which is based on approx. 8.8 million insured persons‘ data, reports NI rates of 5.5-5.7% for Germany for 2017 to 2019 – in each case based on annual case numbers around 1.3 million. However, despite approx. 15% fewer cases treated, the NI rate in 2020 was above these values at 6.3% overall [1]. Particularly in the first weeks of the pandemic, the increase was quite significant at 6.8% and then levelled off again in the course of the year. Global increase in the rate of healthcare-associated infections A side effect of the COVID-19 pandemic One of the declared main goals of infection prevention is the continuous reduction of healthcare-associated infections (HAI). In the past, this has been largely successful in German hospitals. However, the COVID-19 pandemic put a spanner in the works of this development. According to the Hospital Report of the BARMER, a German health insurance, the HAI rate rose slightly in the first pandemic year 2020 compared to previous years – even though fewer people were treated in hospital overall [1]. Internationally, increased HAI rates were also reported for the early phase of the pandemic [2-4]. 2017 2018 2019 2020 5.6 5.7 5.5 6.3 week 3-12 week 13-23 week 24-41 week 42-50 5.8 6.8 6.5 6.2 2020: KNOWLEDGE
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