ABSTRACT

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the rate of device-associated healthcare-associated infections (DA-HAI) in a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). In addition, the identities of the responsible microorganisms and of their antibiotic sensitivities were determined.

Materials and Methods: Patients who had been treated and followed-up with and in a PICU for more than 48 hours between January 2008 and December 2013 were included in the study. Device-associated nosocomial infections were defined by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) criteria.

Results: Nosocomial infections were detected in 244 of the 7376 patients over the six-year period. A diagnosis of DA-HAI was made in 75 (30.7%) of these infections. The rates of device-utilization were 26% for mechanical ventilators, 6% for central venous catheters, and 0.9% for urethral catheters. The rate of device associated-infections was 30.7%, and their frequency was 1.9/1000 patient-days. The device associated nosocomial infection rates for mechanic ventilators, central-, and urethral-catheters were 5.6, 1.62 and 3.77 per 1000 patient-days, respectively. Of these infections, Pseudomonas aeruginosa was the most frequent responsible pathogen. Patients who developed hospital infections had longer durations of ICU-hospitalizations and more often had to use mechanical ventilators and central and urinary catheters.

Conclusions: The duration of hospitalization and the use of mechanical ventilators and central and urinary catheters were related to the increases in nosocomial infections. Therefore, target-oriented active surveillance should be regularly performed, and the superfluous employment of invasive devices should be avoided.