Read the latest news, events and projects from our infection prevention and control programme.
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Hakihea| December 2024
Kia ora and welcome to the latest newsletter from the infection prevention and control (IPC) team at Te Tāhū Hauora Health Quality & Safety Commission.
In this edition - the WHO has published its second global report on IPC, 2 g vials of cefazolin are now available through Pharmac, check out our latest HA-SAB dashboard update, and more!
IPC team updates
The IPC team members are – Nikki Grae (senior manager), Tanya Jackways and Sue Atkins (IPC specialists) Marie Talbot (programme coordinator), Harini Srinivasan and David Waddell (data analysts) and our two clinical leads, Dr Sally Roberts and Dr Arthur Morris.
You can email us at ipc@hqsc.govt.nz.
Transition to Te Whatu Ora
Discussions and planning continue about moving the IPC programme to Te Whatu Ora, but no transition plan has been developed yet. We’ll update you once we have information, and in the meantime will continue with our BAU.
The burden of healthcare-associated infections in New Zealand
The data from the national point prevalence survey (PPS) conducted in 2021 has now been used to calculate the annual economic burden of HAIs in terms of cost, deaths and disability.
These findings are detailed in the paper published in the Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology journal, ‘The burden of healthcare-associated infections in New Zealand public hospitals 2021’.
The analysis shows that the burden of HAIs is greater than many other health conditions and types of injury, for example, the HAI burden is greater than that due to road crashes.
Here is a summary of the findings:
WHO Global report on infection prevention and control
This second global report on IPC provides updated evidence on the harm caused to patients and health workers by HAIs and AMR and presents an updated global analysis of the implementation of IPC programmes at the national and health care facility levels across all WHO regions.
World Antimicrobial Awareness Week 2024 (WAAW), 18-24 November
The week focused on raising awareness and understanding and promoting best practices to reduce the emergence and spread of drug-resistant infections. The theme was “Educate. Advocate. Act now.”
New product 2 g cefazolin
Did you know that 2 g vials of cefazolin, the recommended dose for adult surgical prophylaxis, are now available to order through the Pharmac schedule?
Currently most adults needing cefazolin as prophylaxis receive a 2 g dose (3 g if >120 kg). As only 1 g vials have been available this has meant reconstituting two vials for each case.
Please let your surgical and anaesthetic leads know so they can obtain 2 g vials for your procedures.
Hand Hygiene New Zealand
Compliance data Jul-Oct 2024
You can find district and overall private surgical hospital results for the Jul-Oct 2024 survey period on our dashboard.
Surveillance updates
Healthcare-associated Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia dashboard
An electronic Healthcare-associated Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (HA-SAB) dashboard has now been published. The dashboard will be updated each quarter. Contact your IPC team for a link to the dashboard.
2-year Healthcare-associated Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia surveillance analysis
We published the first 12 months of HA-SAB surveillance (July 2022 to June 2023) results on our website, and we have now completed a 2-year analysis (July 2022 to June 2024).
Australasian College for Infection Prevention and Control Conference
It was great to see so many from New Zealand at the conference in Melbourne in November. The theme was ‘Succession, sustainability, and the advancement of infection prevention and control’. Sue Atkins, Jo Stodart and Angie Foster all presented well and shone the IPC NZ flag for us.
Important dates
15 December 2024: Publication of quarterly QSM, SSIIP dashboards and HA-SAB dashboard
9 January 2025: Quarterly SSIIP investigation summary forms for Jul-Sep 2024 due
30 January 2025: HA-SAB surveillance Oct-Dec 2024 data due
30 January 2025: SSIIP Jul-Sep 2024 data due
28 February 2025: End of hand hygiene audit period
SSIIP investigation meeting, to be confirmed for 2025
Please note: Te Tāhū Hauora will be closed from 5pm Friday 20 December 2024, re-opening on 06 January 2025.
Get in touch
HHNZ questions, requests, information: hhnz@hqsc.govt.nz
SSIIP questions, data-related enquiries: ssiip@hqsc.govt.nz
General IPC questions, requests, information: ipc@hqsc.govt.nz
Best wishes for a safe and happy holiday period from all of us in the IPC Team
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