Surveillance of central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) in intensive care patients will soon be available to Swiss hospitals. Fully automated and based on routine hospital data, it enables standardised and continuous monitoring while reducing the burden of manual data collection.

This innovative surveillance relies on the automated extraction of data from the electronic patient record, such as the presence of a vascular catheter and microbiology results. The anonymised data are sent to the reference centre, where an algorithm classifies the bacteraemia episodes. A small sample of these episodes is then validated manually to ensure the quality of the results. Each participating hospital receives two reports: an individual report presenting its own results and a national benchmark report allowing it to compare itself with other institutions.

Developed and validated at the Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) from 2019 onwards, the surveillance was subsequently rolled out as part of a pilot project in the intensive care units of several Swiss hospitals. Validation carried out in 2026 demonstrated good performance.

This paves the way for integrating CLABSI surveillance into Swissnoso’s digitalisation strategy (Swissnoso Digital IPC initiative), enabling nationwide monitoring and benchmarking from January 2028.