Nosocomial infection incidence in pediatric clinic and pediatric intensive care unit

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study is the prospective evaluation of the rate of nosocomial infections (NCI) in our pediatric clinic (child and infant clinic, except newborn and hemato-oncology units) and pediatric intensive care unit (PICU).Methods: NCI defined by using the standard Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) criteria.Results: Of 91 patients with NCI, there were 114 nosocomial infection attacks and 95 culture growths (1.25 episodes per patient). Forty-three percent (n=39) of patients were female, 57% (n=52) were male and the average age was 64.07 +/- 66.11 months in female patients and 53.14 +/- 63.26 months in male patients. Fifty-two percent (n=47) of the patients were admitted to the pediatric clinic and 48% (n=44) were in the PICU. NCI rates of PICU and pediatric clinic were 16.3 and 8.4 per 100 admissions and 18.5 and 17.3 per 1000 patient days, respectively. In total, the patients stayed in the hospital on average for 48.8 +/- 49.9 days (median=33 days) and the initial diagnosis of NCI was given on the 28.6 +/- 48.1st day of their admittance (median 16 days). The average hospital stay in the PICU patients was 47.2 +/- 60.7 days (median 31 days), and clinic patients 50.0 +/- 39.6 days (median 39 days). NCI was diagnosed on the 33.6 +/- 61.2 days of admittance (median 22.5 days) in the PICU and on the 24.2 +/- 32.6 days (median 10 days) in the clinic.Eighty-five of the 91 patients included in this study (93.4%) had a previously diagnosed underlying chronic or primary disease. The most frequent diseases were found as follows; neurological disease 37.4% (n=34), chronic renal disease 29.7% (n=27) and congenital heart disease 22% (n=20).Conclusion: It was found that NCI rates in our clinic were lower compared to the other developing