The Polish Prevalence of Infection in Intensive Care (PPIC): A one-day point prevalence multicenter study.

Background: Infections in critically ill patients are the main reasons for a lack of therapeutic success and increased mortality in intensive care units (ICUs). There have been many analyses of the incidence of infections in ICUs; however, no large studies of this kind have been conducted either in Poland or in Eastern and Central Europe.

Objectives: The aim of the research was to undertake a one-day study of the prevalence of infections in ICUs in Warszawa and the Mazovian region of Poland.

Material And Methods: A prospective questionnaire survey analysis - a one-day prevalence study of infections - was carried out on June 25, 2014, in 28 ICUs in Poland.

Results: Among 205 ICU patients (193 adults and 12 children), 134 infections were found in 101 patients (99/193 adults (51.30%) and 2/12 children (16.70%)), and bacterial colonization in 19/205 (9.3%) patients. In 66.42% of the cases, more than 1 site of infection was diagnosed. On the day of the study, 75.40% of the diagnosed infections had positive microbiological results. The most frequent were respiratory tract infections (53.73%), wound infections (18.65%) and bloodstream infections (14.92%). Most of the infections (64.10%) were caused by Gram-negative bacteria (GN), followed by Gram-positive bacteria (GP; 31.80%) and fungi (4.10%). The most frequently reported GN microorganisms were Enterobacteriaceae (44.7%). Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections were found in 8.80% of the patients. Antibiotics were administered to 75.60% of the adult patients, in 69.20% as targeted treatment. Mechanical ventilation, central vein catheterization and urinary bladder catheterization were used in 67.80%, 85.85% and 94.63% of the patients, respectively.

Conclusions: On the day of the study, more than half of the patients had infections, mostly from GN bacteria. Respiratory tract infections were the main type found. In about 2/3 of the patients, antibiotics were administered, mainly as targeted therapy.