Introduction: Health care associated infections (HCAIs) or nosocomial infections have a propensity to strike in the critical care areas. Surveillance of HCAIs, so as to defi ne the magnitude and nature of the problem, is the primary step towards reducing the risk for infection in vulnerable hospitalized patients. The present study was conducted in a rural tertiary care teaching hospital with an aim to determine the rate of catheter associated urinary tract Candida infections in medical intensive care unit patients. Methods:A prospective study was done on catheter associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI). The urine samples were collected and processed following standard microbiological protocols. Results:The overall rate of CAUTI was found to be 1.6 per 1000 catheter days. The rates of catheter associated bacteriuria and candiduria in our health care setup were noted as 1.2 and 0.4 respectively. Conclusion:The present surveillance study helped us to generate institutional data regarding CAUTI in ICU patients with a special reference to candiduria. In our institute, the incidence of candiduria was low.

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Background & objectives: Intestinal parasitic infections are major cause of diarrhoea in HIV infected individuals. The present study was undertaken to detect intestinal parasites in HIV infected patients with and without diarrhoea and to determine association between enteric parasites and CD4 T cell count. Methods: The study was carried out at Department of Microbiology, Rural Medical College, Loni, India, between September 2010 and August 2012 among consecutively enrolled 127 HIV infected patients presenting with and without diarrhoea. Stool samples were collected and examined for enteric parasites by microscopy and special staining methods. CD4 cell counts records of patients were taken from Antiretroviral Treatment Centre (ARTC) of the hospital. Results: Out of total 127 cases intestinal parasites were detected in 27 cases. The incidence of intestinal parasitic infection was 21.25%. Of 27 cases where parasites detected in total, Entamoeba histolytica 13 (48.14 %) was found to be most prevalent parasite followed by Cryptosporidium parvum 9 (33.33%) followed by Giardia lamblia 3 (11.11 %) followed by Taenia spp. 2 (7.40%). In HIV infected patients with CD4 count < 200 cells/µl, C. parvum was the most commonly observed (88.88%) parasite. Whereas the proportion of intestinal parasites in patients with CD4 count 200 -499 cells/µl was significantly higher as compared with other two groups of patients with CD4 count < 200 and ≥ 500 cells/µl Interpretation & conclusions: Parasitic infections were detected in 21.25% HIV infected patients and low CD4 count was significantly associated with opportunistic infection. Detection of aetiologic pathogens might help clinicians to decide appropriate management strategies thereby to reduce morbidity and mortality due to intestinal parasitic infections.