Epidemiology and characteristics of nosocomial infections in critically ill patients in a tertiary care Intensive Care Unit of Northern India.

Background And Aims: The prevalence of nosocomial infection is higher in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) than other areas of the hospital. The present observational study was undertaken to describe the epidemiology and characteristics of nosocomial infections acquired in a tertiary care ICU and the impact of the various risk factors in their causation.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on the prospectively collected data of 153 consecutive patients admitted in a tertiary care ICU between July 2014 and December 2015. The primary objective was to assess the epidemiology of ICU-acquired bacterial infections in terms of the incidence of new infections, causative organism, and site. The secondary end point was to assess the risk factors for developing ICU-acquired infections.

Results: Out of the 153 patients enrolled in the study, 87 had an ICU-acquired nosocomial infection (58.86%). The most common organism responsible for infection was (37%), and the most common infection was pneumonia (33%). The duration of mechanical ventilation and length of ICU stay were significantly prolonged in patients developing nosocomial infections. There was no difference in mortality between the groups. The multivariate analyses identified intubation longer than 7 days, urinary catheterization >7 days, duration of mechanical ventilation more than 7 days, and ICU length of stay longer than 7 days as independent risk factors for nosocomial infections.

Conclusion: The study demonstrated a high incidence of nosocomial infection in the ICU and identified the risk factors for acquisition of nosocomial infections in the ICU.