Infection control in small hospitals. Prevalence surveys in 18 institutions

M. R. Britt, J. P. Burke, A. G. Nordquist, J. N. Wilfert and C. B. Smith

In prevalance surveys of 18 small hospitals in the intermountain region, 20.4% of the patients had community-acquired infections and 7.2% had infections acquired in the hospital. The types of nosocomial infections and patterns of antibiotic usage were similar to those encountered in large hospitals. In the small hospitals, 49% of the suspected bacterial infection were cultured, whereas at a nearby large hospital 77% were cultured. Seventeen of these small hospitals had an infection-control committee but these committees were unable to assess adequately the extent of their nosocomial infection problems. Monitoring of the environment with bacterial cultures was a frequent practice; overall, a ratio of one environmental culture was performed to each three diagnostic cultures. These results indicate the need to develop and evaluate nosocomial infection control programs in small hospitals.