Incidence of Nosocomial Infection in Intensive Care Unit: An Experience at a Teaching Hospital

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:The present study was done to evaluate the prevalence of nosocomial infections (NI) among the patients admitted in the intensive care unit (ICU) in a medical teaching Institute. METHODS: The total study participants were 363 including male and females. A proforma was designed to collect data in which complete history of patients was taken along with the clinical examination. All the study subjects were examined on daily basis to assess the treatment outcome and to detect the confirmation of any new infection. Patient's body temperature was also monitored regularly. All the routine investigations such as complete blood picture, blood sugar level, urine analysis and chest radiograph were also done. The incidence of nosocomial infections was assessed by Student's T-test and ANOVA test at p value <0.05. RESULTS: The percentage of subjects with nosocomial infection was 12.7%. Significant differences of NI were found with age, socioeconomic status and duration of stay. The urinary tract infection (UTI) was seen among most of the cases (26.4%). Acinetobacter (30.3%) was the most commonly seen organism which followed Pseudomonous aeruginosa (25.5%) as the causative factors. CONCLUSION: The results of the study revealed incidence rate of NI as 12.7% which is a comparatively low. Still hospital administration should maintain proper measures regarding infection control procedures.