Nosocomial Infections in Neurology Intensive Care Unit: Infection Rate, Site Spesific Infection and Microorganisms

• Main Authors: Gül Ruhsar YILMAZ, Mustafa Aydın ÇEVİK, F. Şebnem ERDİNÇ, Necla TÜLEK, Serap ÜÇLER
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bilimsel Tip Yayinevi 2001-09-01
• Series: Flora Infeksiyon Hastalıkları ve Klinik Mikrobiyoloji Dergisi
• Subjects: Intensive care unit; Infection; Infection rate
• Online Access: http://www.floradergisi.org/getFileContent.aspx?op=REDPDF&file_name=2001-6-3-164-170.pdf

All patients treated at a neurology intensive care unit (ICU) with a capacity of six-beds were prospectively observed for the development of nosocomial infections from March 15th, 1999 to May, 2000. The presence or absence of infection and the type of infection were documented according to the standard definitions of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). We used the standard definitions of the National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance System (NNISS) ICU surveillance component for analysis. In 190 patients during 2006 patient days 169 nosocomial infections were detected. The overall rate for nosocomial infections was 88.9 per 100 patient admissions and 84.2 per 1000 patient days. Urinary tract infections (43.2%), pneumonia (26.7%) and primary bloodstream infections (19.5%) were the first three most common types of infection. The most common microorganisms isolated were Klebsiella pneumoniae (20.6%), Enterococcus spp. (15.3%) and Candida spp. (13.7%). The high infection rates reported in this study may reflect a combination of factors related to the underlying illness and exposure to invasive procedures. The rates of nosocomial infections differ by the type of ICU. This observation suggests that each ICU has its own epidemiological findings for nosocomial infections and needs periodical surveillance studies to guide control measures.