Such infections are common in Kenya, with nearly five out of every 100 admitted patients contracting new infections in hospitals, according to studies by the Kenya Medical Research Institute.
The new global strategy provides countries with strategic directions to substantially reduce the risk of such infections including those that exhibit drug resistance.
The strategy, agreed on at the ongoing World Health Assembly, aims to completely eliminate such infections by 2030.
“Hospital-acquired infections are among the most frequent adverse events occurring in the context of health service delivery,” the WHO said in a statement.
“The strategy is focused on any setting where health care is delivered, across the health system.”
It also aims to ensure infection prevention control programmes are in place and implemented, and coordinate control activities with other areas and sectors.
In September last year, at least six babies died after contracting multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumonia at the Kenyatta National Hospital.
At that time, the Ministry of Health called for enhanced infection prevention and control measures as antimicrobial drug-resistant cases increase, not only in infants.
“KNH and other health facilities need to review their surveillance systems to improve identification and management of healthcare-acquired infections,” the ministry said.
But last month, researchers revealed that Kenya’s referral hospitals do not practise proper hygiene, as demanded by the National Infection Prevention and Control Guidelines for Health Care Services in Kenya.
The researchers said they swabbed 617 high-touch surfaces in three Level 6 and 5 hospitals, and two Level 4 hospitals across surgical, general, maternity, newborn, outpatient and paediatric departments.
The swabs were tested at the Kemri laboratories in Nairobi.
Tests identified the presence of pathogens that are the leading cause of hospital-acquired infections in Kenya and globally.
“At least 78/617 (12.6 per cent) of the sampled high-touch surfaces across the study hospitals were contaminated with MDR Eskapee,” the researchers said in a report published by the Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control journal early last month.
It is titled, “Environmental contamination across multiple hospital departments with multidrug-resistant bacteria pose an elevated risk of healthcare-associated infections in Kenyan hospitals”.
Four departments, newborn, surgical, maternity, and paediatrics, had particularly worrying contamination rates of at least 10 per cent, with the surgical and newborn having the highest rates of 25 per cent and 19.1 per cent, respectively.
The most frequently contaminated items were patient bedding, newborn incubators and baby cots, department sinks, door knobs, and tray table tops.
“Bathroom surfaces, bathroom sinks and a saline bathtub were also contaminated with MDR Eskapee,” they said.
The national referral hospital included in the study had the highest concentration of germs, followed by the Level 5 facilities.
“The higher levels of MDR Eskapee contamination in higher-level hospitals than in lower-level hospitals may be linked to increased antibiotic selection pressure resulting from extensive use, particularly in critical care units or specialised departments such as the surgical departments,” the researchers said.
“Patients with severe infections, trauma and those referred from lower-level hospitals often seek medical care in higher-level hospitals. These patients often require surgical interventions and the administration of antibiotics for patient care,” they added.
The researchers were from the US Army Medical Research Directorate-Africa and the University of Nairobi.
The most common pathogen was the opportunistic Acinetobacter baumannii, which attacks severely sick people.
It causes ventilator-associated pneumonia, skin and soft tissue infections, urinary tract infections, secondary meningitis and bloodstream, all of which have been associated with high mortality rates.
This bacteria is resistant to commonly prescribed antibiotics.
The researchers recommended that hospitals must enforce terminal cleaning of patients’ beds and newborn incubators.
This involves transferring patients to a different ward and then cleaning and fully disinfecting all surfaces in the room.
They also recommended biomonitoring around high-touch areas, antibiotic stewardship programmes, enforced hand hygiene, and adequate and frequent cleaning of high-touch areas.
