Investigation of hospital-acquired infections in units other than the intensive care unit

Backround:  Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) are issues for not only patients who get treatment in the intensive care unit but also for patients who are being treated in internal medicine and surgical departments. HAIs cause functional disorders, less life quality or even death. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of HAIs, distribution of the infections, and isolated microorganisms in units other than the intensive care units (ICU). Materials and Methods:  Data of the patients who developed hospital infections between January 2014 and December 2017 were evaluated retrospectively . The McCabe score was used for categorical evaluation. Results:  The overall HAI rate was 0.17%. Of these, 619 (53.1%) occurred in departments other than the intensive care units. The most common HAI was surgical site infection (n: 223, 36%) followed by urinary tract infection (n: 176, 28.4%) and pneumonia (n: 125, 20.2%). According to patients' comorbid disease status, 48% (n: 297) was McCabe class 1, 30% (n: 186) was McCabe class 2, and 22% (n:136) was McCabe is class 3. In 85 (13.7%) of 619 HAI cases, the agent could not be isolated, and the diagnosis of HAI was based on clinical findings. Four-hundred-ninety-two bacteria were isolated and 409 (83.1%) were gram-negative whereas 83 (16.9%) were gram-positive. Conclusions:  HAIs are important health problems not only for patients in intensive care units, but also for patients who are treated in services. It was thought that the characteristics of the concomitant diseases need to be taken into consideration in preventing hospital infections.