The risk of infection in nursing homes stems from complex and intertwined mechanisms linked not only to residents’ health status and level of dependency but also to the care they receive, community living, and other institutional factors. Furthermore, due to their high vulnerability and constant interactions with the healthcare sector or the community, residents may also be carriers of or infected with bacteria that are multi-drug resistant to antibiotics. Nursing homes are therefore faced with the dual challenges of managing infection risk and bacterial antibiotic resistance.

The previous survey was conducted in 2016: Prev’Ehpad 2016

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) is coordinating, at the European level, the implementation of a new survey on the prevalence of healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial treatments in long-term care facilities: HALT-4. In France, the Ministry of Solidarity and Health’s 2022–2025 national strategy for the prevention of infections and antibiotic resistance encourages the assessment of trends in infection risk as well as the identification of levers to promote the appropriate use of antibiotics in the medical-social sector, particularly in long-term care facilities (Ehpad).

This 2024 ENP in nursing homes is coordinated by Santé publique France in collaboration with the Centers for Support in the Prevention of Healthcare-Associated Infections (CPias) and led by the Network for the Prevention of Healthcare-Associated Infections (RéPias).

Objectives

• To provide updated prevalence indicators for healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial treatments among nursing home residents.

• Describe the characteristics of nursing home residents and the operations of nursing homes.

• Raise awareness among all nursing staff in nursing homes regarding the prevention and control of healthcare-associated infections, antibiotic resistance, and the appropriate use of antibiotics.

• Mobilize all healthcare professionals around a surveillance project that contributes to improving the safety of care for residents.

Data Collection

Data collection took place between May 15 and June 28, 2024.

Survey Procedure

As in 2016, this survey is part of the European protocol involving the conduct of national prevalence surveys in each member state and the transmission of their data to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
The survey protocol, and in particular the questionnaires, are designed in accordance with the European protocol.

The data entry and results reporting tool (PrevIAS) will be made available to nursing homes. The PrevIAS application has undergone numerous updates to incorporate feedback from the 2022 ENP in healthcare facilities.

A randomly selected sample of nursing homes was contacted during the third quarter of 2023 to participate in the survey. However, all nursing homes that wished to do so were able to participate in the survey and access the tools, particularly for data entry and reporting.

Training sessions for survey coordinators in each nursing home were organized in every region by the CPias in April–May 2024.

Results