RESEARCH ARTICLE Surveillance of healthcare

is available at the end of the articleBackground Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are frequent and critical complications associated with hospitalization of neonates, especially very low birth weight (VLBW) neo-nates, in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) [1,2]. Ac-tive surveillance systems for HAIs in NICUs have been developed in USA and Canada by the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) [3,4], the Vermont Oxford Network [5,6] and the Canadian Neonatal Network [7]. In Europe, surveillance systems for HAIs in NICUs are active in Germany [8,9] and in England [10]. The first national report on HAIs in Italian intensive care units (ICUs) has recently been published [11]. The document shows the results of HAIs surveillance activities for the 2009–2010 period and mainly focuses on adult ICUs, with a very limited contribution of pediatric ICUs and none of NICUs. While several studies have shown the spread of spe