Infection prevention and control practices during the COVID-19 pandemic: impact on the prevalence of hospital-acquired infections in Tunisia.

Background: During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, strict infection prevention and control (IPC) measures were implemented in healthcare settings. Aim: To evaluate the effect of enhanced IPC practices implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic on the prevalence of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) in a Tunisian university hospital. Methods: A multimodal IPC strategy was implemented from March to September 2020 at Sahloul University Hospital, Sousse, Tunisia. This strategy included promoting hand hygiene (HH), enhancing adherence to standard precautions and universal masking. We compared the prevalence of HAIs and compliance with IPC practices before the pandemic (pre-intervention phase) and during the pandemic (post-intervention phase). Results: A total of 306 patients were surveyed in 2019 and 228 in 2021. The prevalence of HAIs increased slightly from 9.4% to 10.08% ( Conclusions: This study found no significant change in HAI prevalence despite the implementation of enhanced IPC strategies. However, the small sample size was a major limitation that may have reduced the statistical power to detect meaningful differences. Larger-scale studies are needed to confirm these findings and better assess the impact of IPC strategies in this context. Trial registration: Not applicable.