Swissnoso is conducting a pilot project for the surveillance of hospital-acquired pneumonia in non-ventilated patients on behalf of the Federal Office of Public Health (CHAPS - Swiss (CH) non-ventilator-associated hospital-acquired pneumonia surveillance).

Non-ventilator-associated hospital-acquired pneumonia (nvHAP) is among the most common healthcare-acquired infections. As all non-intubated hospitalised patients can suffer from nvHAP, manual hospital-wide continuous infection surveillance is too time-consuming. Semi-automated surveillance systems, in which computerised algorithms pre-select patients for manual surveillance, can reduce the effort required for manual surveillance and thus make continuous nvHAP surveillance possible.

In a pilot project on semi-automated nvHAP surveillance, Swissnoso first aims to clarify what time and personnel resources are required to establish and conduct semi-automated surveillance in a hospital. It also seeks to identify the prerequisites that facilitate the establishment of the system. Secondly, Swissnoso will determine the sensitivity of semi-automated nvHAP surveillance compared to manual nvHAP surveillance and the so-called interrater agreement (the degree of agreement between two manual reviewers).

The pilot project started in July 2023. The results of the pilot study will inform hospitals and authorities about the important parameters mentioned above and should provide the basis for deciding on a possible nationwide introduction of semi-automated nvHAP surveillance.

Status January 2024