The evaluation of nosocomial infection during 1-year-period in the burn unit of a training hospital in Istanbul, Turkey

An analysis of the burned patients, admitted to our eight bed burn unit and treated between 1 January and 31 December 2000, was performed. Prevalence, etiologic agents, length of hospitalization, cost of treatment and mortality rates caused by nosocomial infections (NIs) were studied. The study included 63 patients. Eighteen of these (Group-A) had 24 NI episodes. The most common NI observed was burn-wound infection (58.3%), followed by bacteraemia-sepsis (16.7%). NIs were not detected in the rest at all (Group B). The mean length of hospitalization was 38.5 +/- 19.7 days in Group A, and 20.3 +/- 7.6 days in Group B. The mean total burned surface area (TBSA) was 43 +/- 21 in Group A and 29 +/- 18 in Group B, while the most important independent risk factor for NI was TBSA in burned patients (OR, 1.08; CI95, 0.93-1.24). NI prolonged the mean hospital stay to 18 days and increased the cost of treatment by US$ 502. The most common bacteria isolated was Pseudomonas aeruginosa (41.7%) and the second was methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA-25.0%). All of the NI-free patients survived, while, five (28.5%) patients with NI died (P < 0.01). These findings emphasized the need for careful disinfection and conscientious contact control procedures in areas that serve immuno-supressed individuals, such as burned patients. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.