Survey of infection control and antimicrobial stewardship practices in Australian residential aged‐care facilities. Issue 5 (May 2015) - Stuart, R. L.
Abstract This study assessed infection prevention and antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) practices in Australian residential aged‐care facilities (RACF). Two hundred and sixty‐five surveys (15.6%) were completed with all states represented and the majority (177 (67.3%)) privately run. Only 30.6% RACF had infection control trained staff on site. Few facilities had AMS policies, only 14% had antimicrobial prescribing restrictions. Most facilities offered vaccination to residents (influenza vaccination rates >75% in 73% of facilities), but pneumococcal vaccination was poor.