Incidence of nosocomial infections in an intensive care unit

An incidence study about nosocomial infections was carried out in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a general hospital for a six months period (april 1st 1993 to september 30th 1993). 87 patients who stayed more than 24 hours in the ICU were prospectively observed : 24.1 % of them acquired a nosocomial infection in the ICU. The incidence and the incidence density for nosocomial acquired infection were respectively : 43,7 % and 31 parts per thousand patients-days. Urinary tract infections were the most frequently observed (incidence : 21.8 %), but only in patients with an urinary catheter (incidence density : 18 parts per thousand catheter days). The incidence of lower respiratory tract infections was 14,5 per 100 patients. All of them were ventilator associated pneumoniae (incidence density : 13 per 1000 ventilator-days). In our study, the SAPS (simplified acute physiology score) was not correlated with the risk of nosocomial infection.