The criteria that define infections for surveillance purposes were selected to increase the likelihood that the events captured by application of the definitions are true infections. Presentations of infection in older residents of long-term care facilities (LTCFs), may be atypical, so failure to meet surveillance definitions may not fully exclude the presence of infection. For this reason, the surveillance definitions presented here may not be adequate for real-time case finding, diagnosis, or clinical decision making (eg, antibiotic initiation). Separate clinical guidelines address early identification of infections and appropriate initiation of antibiotic therapy in LTCF residents, which are both important for impacting resident outcomes. Continue reading “Revised McGeer Criteria for Respiratory Tract Infection Surveillance (RTIs)”
