Current Pattern and Clinico-Bacteriological Profile of Healthcare Associated Infections (HAI) in an ICU Setting: An Observational Study
Abstract Objective To understand the pattern and types of healthcare associated infections (HAI) at our healthcare facility, and to determine the common causative agents and their antibiotic susceptibility profile. Methods One hundred consecutive patients diagnosed with HAI were enrolled and monitored; the causative organisms isolated on culture were recorded and their sensitivity profile was generated. Results Of the 100 patients diagnosed with HAI (mean age ± SD being 42 ± 17 years), there were a total of 110 hospital acquired infections with 10 patients having two infections each. Out of 100 patients with HAI, 69 patients had ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP), 21 patients had catheter associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) patients, and 20 patients had central line associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI). There were 10 patients with both VAP and CAUTI. All of the HAIs were device associated. A total of 76 pathogens were isolated on culture. No organism was isolated in 40 HAI. Majority (94.7%) of the organisms isolated from HAIs were gram-negative bacteria and all were multidrug resistant. Seventy-seven of the enrolled patients expired while 23 were discharged from the hospital Conclusions Our study demonstrated that HAIs occur in patients of all age groups; younger patients are not spared. Majority of the HAIs were caused by multidrug resistant gram-negative bacteria and were associated with high patient mortality. Acinetobacter species was the most common organism associated with HAI.