Ethics approval and consent to participate
Not applicable.
Consent for publication
Not applicable.
Availability of data and materials
As agreed within the i-4-1-Health consortium, the i-4-1-Health datasets will be made available no earlier than December 31st, 2020 and no later than December 31st, 2024, in accordance with the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) data principles.18
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Funding
The i-4-1-Health project was financed by the Interreg V Flanders-The Netherlands program, the cross-border cooperation program with financial support from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Additional financial support was received from the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Province of Noord-Brabant, the Belgian Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, the Province of Antwerp and the Province of East-Flanders. ATP luminometers and ATP surface swabs were provided by 3M. The authors are free to publish the results from the project without interference from the funding bodies or 3M.
Authors’ contributions
Andreas van Arkel was responsible for data analysis and writing of the manuscript. The manuscript was judged by Ina Willemsen, Jan Kluytmans, Pascal De Waegemaeker, Isabel Leroux-Roels and Martine Verelst. Sindy Vlamings-Wagenaars, Anne van Oudheusden, Pascal De Waegemaeker, Martine Verelst, Evelien Maas, Anita van Oosten, Patricia Willemse, Esther van Asselen, Ella Klomp-Berens, Karen Franssen and Elise Van Cauwenberg were responsible for collection of the data. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the infection control practitioners in the participating hospitals for their contribution to the collection of the epidemiological data.
i-4-1-Health Study Group
Lieke van Alphen (Maastricht University Medical Center+, Maastricht, the Netherlands), Nicole van den Braak (Avans University of Applied Sciences, Breda, the Netherlands), Caroline Broucke (Agency for Care and Health, Brussels, Belgium), Anton Buiting (Elisabeth-TweeSteden Hospital, Tilburg, the Netherlands), Liselotte Coorevits (Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium), Sara Dequeker (Agency for Care and Health, Brussels, Belgium and Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium), Jeroen Dewulf (Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium), Wouter Dhaeze (Agency for Care and Health, Brussels, Belgium), Bram Diederen (ZorgSaam Hospital, Terneuzen, the Netherlands), Helen Ewalts (Regional Public Health Service Hart voor Brabant, Tilburg, the Netherlands), Herman Goossens (University of Antwerp, Antwerpen, Belgium and Antwerp University Hospital, Antwerp, Belgium), Inge Gyssens (Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium), Casper den Heijer (Regional Public Health Service Zuid-Limburg, Heerlen, the Netherlands), Christian Hoebe (Maastricht University Medical Center+, Maastricht, the Netherlands and Regional Public Health Service Zuid-Limburg, Heerlen, the Netherlands), Casper Jamin (Maastricht University Medical Center+, Maastricht, the Netherlands), Patricia Jansingh (Regional Public Health Service Limburg Noord, Venlo, the Netherlands), Jan Kluytmans (Amphia Hospital, Breda, the Netherlands and University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands), Marjolein Kluytmans-van den Bergh (Amphia Hospital, Breda, the Netherlands and University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands), Stefanie van Koeveringe (Antwerp University Hospital, Antwerp, Belgium), Sien De Koster (University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium), Christine Lammens (University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium), Isabel Leroux-Roels (Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium), Hanna Masson (Agency for Care and Health, Brussel, Belgium), Ellen Nieuwkoop (Elisabeth-TweeSteden Hospital, Tilburg, the Netherlands), Anita van Oosten (Admiraal De Ruyter Hospital, Goes, the Netherlands), Natascha Perales Selva (Antwerp University Hospital, Antwerp, Belgium), Merel Postma (Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium), Stijn Raven (Regional Public Health Service West-Brabant, Breda, the Netherlands), Veroniek Saegeman (University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium), Paul Savelkoul (Maastricht University Medical Center+, Maastricht, the Netherlands), Annette Schuermans (University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium), Nathalie Sleeckx (Experimental Poultry Centre, Geel, Belgium), Krista van der Slikke (Regional Public Health Service Zeeland, Goes, the Netherlands), Arjan Stegeman (Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands), Tijs Tobias (Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands), Paulien Tolsma (Regional Public Health Service Brabant Zuid-Oost, Eindhoven, the Netherlands), Jacobien Veenemans (Admiraal De Ruyter Hospital, Goes, the Netherlands), Dewi van der Vegt (PAMM Laboratory for Pathology and Medical Microbiology, Veldhoven, the Netherlands), Martine Verelst (University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium), Carlo Verhulst (Amphia Hospital, Breda, the Netherlands), Pascal De Waegemaeker (Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium), Veronica Weterings (Amphia Hospital, Breda, the Netherlands), Clementine Wijkmans (Regional Public Health Service Hart voor Brabant, Tilburg, the Netherlands), Patricia Willemse-Smits (Elkerliek Hospital, Helmond, the Netherlands), Ina Willemsen (Amphia Hospital, Breda, the Netherlands.)