China is to work with French diagnostic reagent giant BioMerieux in upgrading the country's hospital infection prevention system, according to a project plan signed here on Monday.

China's Ministry of Health (MOH) and BioMerieux will improve virus infection prevention network in hospital through training, formulating joint standards, providing anti-virus tests and constructing information networks, according to the project plan.

"The project will enhance the cooperation between clinical section, microbiology labs and infection management departments in hospitals, organizing training and stipulating guidelines for doctors and nurses, and a DNA database will be established for clinical reference," said Guo Yanhong, an official with MOH.

According to the statistics of MOH, the infectious rate in Chinese hospitals is about 5 percent and most infectious cases happen in intensive care units, hematology clinics and wound-healing clinics.

Guo Yanhong attributed China's infectious cases to patients and nurses' insufficient knowledge of hospital infections, relatively backward facilities and techniques, and slow test speed.

The project will be launched in nine state-level hospitals in Beijing and Shanghai municipalities and Hunan and Guangdong provinces.

(Xinhua News Agency February 19, 2008)