Abstract
The patients treated in the newborn intensive care units (NICUs) are under high risk
in terms of nosocomial infections. Despite the developments in antibiotherapy, these
infections are still causing high mortality and morbidity. In this study, we aimed
to determine the prevalence of nosocomial infections, to detect the causing pathogens
and resistance patterns of antibiotics in patients in the NICU of Van Maternity and
Children's Hospital. For this purpose, 621 patients in the NICU were observed for
nosocomial infections between 01/09/2007 and 31/08/2008. A total of 63 nosocomial
infections developed in 54 patients. The nosocomial infection rate in the NICU was
found to be 8.7% by patient count and 10.1% by infection attack count. Besides, the
nosocomial infection incidence density was 12.8 by patient count and 14.9 by infection
attack count. Among these infections blood stream infections were the most common
by 44.4% and Klebsiella pneumoniae was the most frequent pathogen. Fifteen of 20 isolated
strains of K pneumoniae were positive for extended spectrum beta lactamases (ESBL).
We believe that this kind of studies on NICUs would contribute to nosocomial infection
control programs and would be effective on treatment of nosocomial infections.
Keywords
Newborn intensive care unit - nosocomial infection - antibiotic resistance
