Epidemiology of Nosocomial Bloodstream Infections in Belgium, 1992-1996

Abstract

The main results of the bloodstream infection (BSI) component of the Belgian National Programme for the Surveillance of Hospital Infections (NSIH project) are reported. From October 1992 to September 1996, 117 hospitals (59.1% of Belgian acute-care institutions) reported 13678 nosocomial BSIs. The incidence was 7.05 BSI episodes per 10000 patient-days. The incidence of BSI increased with hospital size and over time. Bloodstream infections were secondary to an infectious body site in 40.3% of the episodes, catheter-related in 23.5%, and of unknown origin in 36.2%. The associated in-hospital mortality was 31.4% and was highest in BSIs secondary to a respiratory tract infection (49.3%). In intensive care units, the incidence of BSI was 38.5 per 10000 patient-days. Coagulase-negative staphylococci were the most prevalent microorganisms (22%), followed by Staphylococcus aureus (14.1%) and Escherichia coli (13.5%). In catheter-related BSIs, these proportions were 41.9%, 18.8%, and 2.3%, respectively. The proportion of polymicrobial episodes was 9.9%. Methicillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus was 22.3%. With its high participation rate, the NSIH project has characterized the epidemiology of nosocomial BSIs in Belgium during the period studied.

Uncommon aetiological agents of catheter-related bloodstream infections

“…and Gram-negative bacilli have been reported as the most common aetiological agents of CR-BSI, which is consistent with data from our institution [6]. We found that 2·3% of all our CR-BSI episodes were due to less common microorganisms and this accords with other surveillance studies in the literature which report an incidence of <5% for such organisms from CR-BSI [7,8].…”

Consensus statement on the management of invasive candidiasis in Intensive Care Units in the Asia-Pacific Region

“…Invasive candidiasis has emerged as an important nosocomial infection, especially among critically ill patients [1][2][3][4][5]. From the 1980s to the end of the 1990s, an increasing trend of candidaemia prevalence became apparent, which was followed by a period of relative stability [6][7][8][9].…”

Aislamiento de Cándida sp. en cultivos de catéteres intravasculares en un hospital de alta complejidad. 2008 y 2009, Lima-Perú.

“…La infección del torrente sanguíneo es la tercera causa de infección nosocomial a nivel internacional y representa el 19% de este tipo de infecciones (2,3,4).…”

“…En las últimas décadas, el uso de catéteres intravasculares (CIV) (1) se ha incrementado en las unidades de cuidados intensivos (UCI) (2,3); así como en los servicios de hospitalización (23,7%) y como consecuencia han aumentado las complicaciones asociadas a su uso: sepsis, infecciones del torrente sanguíneo (ITS) y colonización de catéter (3,4).…”