Table 2.

Number and prevalence of healthcare-associated infections reported in the Belgian HALT surveys, 2010-2016

	HALT-1 (2010)		HALT-2 (2013)		HALT-3 (2016)
	n (%)	Crude prevalence (%)	n (%)	Crude prevalence (%)	n (%)	Crude prevalence (%)
All HAI types	344 (100.0)	2.89	325 (100.0)	3.71	557 (100.0)	3.44
Respiratory tract infections (RTIs)	166 (48.3)	1.39	119 (36.6)	1.36	242 (43.4)	1.49
Common cold/pharyngitis	57 (34.3)	0.48	35 (29.4)	0.40	106 (43.8)	0.65
Influenza-like illness	3 (1.8)	0.03	5 (4.2)	0.06	4 (1.7)	0.02
Pneumonia	15 (9.0)	0.13	10 (8.4)	0.11	11 (4.5)	0.07
Other lower RTIs	91 (54.8)	0.76	69 (58.0)	0.79	121 (50.0)	0.75
Urinary tract infections (UTIs)	35 (10.2)	0.29	111 (34.1)	1.27	172 (30.9)	1.06
Confirmed UTIs	-	-	57 (51.4)	0.65	100 (58.1)	0.62
Probable UTIsa	-	-	54 (48.6)	0.62	72 (41.9)	0.44
Skin infections	67 (19.5)	0.56	45 (13.8)	0.51	88 (15.8)	0.54
Cellulitis/soft tissue/wound infections	60 (89.6)	0.50	43 (95.6)	0.49	70 (79.5)	0.43
Herpes simplex or zoster infections	2 (3.0)	0.02	1 (2.2)	0.01	4 (4.5)	0.02
Fungal infections	5 (7.5)	0.04	1 (2.2)	0.01	14 (15.9)	0.09
Scabies	0 (0.0)	0.00	0 (0.0)	0.00	0 (0.0)	0.00
Gastrointestinal infections	18 (5.2)	0.15	20 (6.2)	0.23	18 (3.2)	0.11
Gastroenteritis	-	-	17 (85.0)	0.19	18 (100.0)	0.11
Clostridioides difficile infections	-	-	3 (15.0)	0.03	0 (0.0)	0.00
Eye, ear, nose & mouth infections	34 (9.9)	0.29	15 (4.6)	0.17	18 (3.2)	0.11
Conjunctivitis	24 (70.6)	0.20	10 (66.7)	0.11	12 (66.7)	0.07
Ear infections	2 (5.9)	0.02	3 (20.0)	0.03	0 (0.0)	0.00
Sinusitis	1 (2.9)	0.01	1 (6.7)	0.01	0 (0.0)	0.00
Oral candidiasis	7 (20.6)	0.06	1 (6.7)	0.01	6 (33.3)	0.04
Bloodstream infections	1 (0.3)	0.01	1 (0.3)	0.01	0 (0.0)	0.00
Unexplained fever	2 (0.6)	0.02	9 (2.8)	0.10	8 (1.4)	0.05
Other infections	21 (6.1)	0.18	5 (1.5)	0.06	8 (1.4)	0.05
Unknown	-	-	-	-	3 (0.5)	0.02

^a Sufficient signs/symptoms but no microbiological evidence (urine culture test not done or result negative or unknown) to confirm the UTI; HAI: healthcare-associated infections