Fig. 2

Flow diagram of the two rule-based surveillance algorithms for central venous catheter-related bloodstream infection. BCx: blood culture; BSI: bloodstream infection; CFU: colony-forming unit; CVC: central venous catheter; HA: healthcare-associated. Positive BCx: any BCx with growth of microorganisms (pathogens and/or contaminants). BSI symptoms: fever (> 38 °C) and/or hypotension (systolic blood pressure < 90 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure ≤ 60 mmHg). CVC-BSI-episode: all BCx taken during admission were regarded as potential CVC-BSI-episodes, and each admission without BCx taken counted as one potential CVC-BSI-episode. RIT: repeat infection timeframe, i.e., within 14 days after the first positive BCx of a previous CVC-BSI-episode