1. EUNID: Inventory of Isolation Facilities in European Countries Brief history of an Inventory…
Dr. Francesco M. Fusco
EUNID Coordination Team
National Institute for Infectious Diseases
Rome, Italy

2. EUNID: objectives and deliverables
To prepare an accurate and complete inventory of highly secure isolation units and other isolation facilities (e.g. those with one or more rooms at negative pressure) in Europe.
To make these data accessible to public through the EUNID web-site and publication on scientific journals.
An article with the collected data will be submitted for publication on “Eurosurveillance”. All the collaborating partners will be cited as co-authors.

3. In the beginning was the questionnaire…
A questionnaire on many issues was sent to all partners.
A section regarding number, location and technical features of Isolation Units present/planned in each country was included in the questionnaire.
11 out of 16 questionnaires were returned before the meeting in Rome.
One more questionnaire was returned during the Rome meeting.

4. First EUNID meeting: Rome, May 27-28 Presentation of data

5. Preliminary data, many doubts…
Some partners did not agree with the presented numbers.
So, we understood that:
The questionnaire was not so clear,
The questionnaire was not so complete,
Answers of some partners were not complete,
The comprehensive collection of data would have been very hard to complete…

6. A new approach (1): A letter was sent to the partners including:
A draft of the article, with a section focused on their own country, based on data previously collected.
A brief questionnaire, including explanatory notes and additional questions.
Partners were requested to confirm or correct the draft, and to fill in the new questionnaire.

7. A new approach (2):
An improved, complete questionnaire on unsolved issues was sent to new partners from countries that did not answer to the first questionnaire (France, Ireland, Spain)
A further explanatory note on what we mean by “sealed room” was then sent

8. An example: Denmark What we understood:
“In Denmark, 5 hospitals have negative pressure rooms with ≥ 6 air changes per hour and anteroom, for a total number of 21 beds. These HIUs are located in the Infectious Diseases Units of the hospital building or campus. None of these HIUs are equipped with ICU capabilities.”
What the partner meant:
“In Denmark, 5 hospitals have 21 negative pressure rooms with ≥ 6 air changes per hour and anteroom, for a total number of 38 beds. All the rooms are sealed, and the exhausting of the air is directly to outside without HEPA filters. These HIUs are located in the Infectious Diseases Units of the hospital building. None of these HIUs are equipped with ICU capabilities. ”

9. Inventory of facilities: current situation
Countries that have already confirmed or corrected our draft: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Luxembourg, Sweden, United Kingdom, and, clearly, Italy.
Countries that did not confirm or correct our draft: Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Portugal.
Countries with a new partner: France, Ireland, Spain.
Country with no Isolation Facilities: Austria.

10. Inventory of facilities: confirmed data

11. Inventory of facilities: data to be confirmed

12. Inventory of facilities: new data
Data for the inventory are expected from France, Ireland and Spain, and a review of data is expected from The Netherlands

13. Final remarks
With the hope to complete the inventory as soon as possible, thank you a lot and…
… your turn!
Special thanks to: Carla Nisii, Ramona Iacovino, Fabio Soldani, Silvia Pittalis, Raffaella Pisapia, Gabriella De Carli, Vincenzo Puro, and Giuseppe Ippolito.