ABSTRACT
Proper surveillance administered by infection control committee members may reduce infection rates and antibiotic use in intensive care units. This study aimed to evaluate the results of blood, respiratory and urine cultures and their changes over the years.
Among 21,632 cultures taken from patients between January 2017 and December 2018, 953 cultures diagnosed with healthcare-related infections constituted the study cohort. SPSS program and incidence formula were used to analyze the data.
The overall incidence of infection is 21.9 per thousand patient days. Forty-three point two percent of the patients were diagnosed with urinary catheter-related urinary tract infection. The most isolated microorganisms were Acinetobacter baumannii (35.6%), Candida spp. (16.8%), Klebsiella spp. (14.4%). Compared to the previous year, most microorganisms are less common, however, but coagulase negative Staphylococci have increased by about 2-fold and Serratia marcescens and Proteus mirabilis about 3-fold. Gram-positive bacteria were resistant to methicillin, gentamycin, and ciprofloxacin; and Gram-negative bacteria were resistant to penicillin, beta-lactam, and cephalosporin group antibiotics.
Knowledge of the incidence of infection, the frequency of unit-specific microorganisms, and the resistance profile of these microorganisms can improve treatment and care quality, avoid unnecessary and incorrect antibiotic use, and reduce costs.
Keywords: Health service associated infection, intensive care nursing, antibiotic resistance, infection control