Nosocomial infections and risk factors in the intensive care unit of a teaching and research hospital: A prospecive cohort study

Background: To evaluate the incidence, risk factors and etiology of nosocomial infections (NIs) in the intensive care unit (ICU) of our hospital in order to improve our infection control policies. Material/Methods: A 1-year prospective cohort study of nosocomial infection (NI) surveillance was conducted in our ICU in 2008. Results: Out of 1134 patients hospitalized in the ICU for a period of 6257 days, 115 patients acquired a total of 135 NIs distributed as follows: 36.3% bacteremia, 30.4% ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), 18.5% catheter-associated urinary tract infection, 7.4% central-line infection, 5.9% cutaneous infection, and 1.3% meningitis. The incidence rate of NI was 21.6 in 1000 patient-days, and the rate of NI was 25.6%. Length of ICU stay, central venous catheterisation, mechanical ventilation and tracheostomy were statistically significant risk factors for NI. Of all NI, 112 (83%) were microbiologically-confirmed and 68.8% of the isolates were Gram-negative, 27.6% were Gram-positive, and 3.6% were fungi. 23 (17%) were clinically-defined infections. The most frequently isolated organism was P. aeruginosa (25%), followed by S. aureus (21.4%), E. coli (18.7%) and A. baumannii (16.9%). Conclusions: The bloodstream was the most common site and Gram-negatives were the most commonly reported causes of ICU infections.