Surveillance of hospital-acquired infection in England, Germany, and the Netherlands: Will international comparison of rates be possible?

Three national surveillance systems for nosocomial infection have been deve loped independently and implemented successfully in England, Germany, and T he Netherlands. All three are based on the American National Nosocomial Inf ections Surveillance System and have adopted a surveillance strategy that i s targeted at specific infections or groups of patients for limited time pe riods. Case-finding methods, the minimum data set, and analysis of data are similar and could be standardized easily. Resolution of the differences in the definitions of infection, the study population, and follow-up should m ake possible the international comparison of infection rates. Such comparis ons may identify differences in healthcare practices between countries and suggest areas for improvement.