Nosocomial Bloodstream Infection in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

Objective: To study the incidence of nosocomial blood stream infections (BSI) in a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of a tertiary care teaching hospital, identify the organisms responsible and the pattern of antibiotic resistance over one decade.

Methods: Data was retrieved from the records of PICU and Medical Microbiology laboratory of patients with a positive blood culture after 48 hours of admission to PICU over three time periods viz. 1994-1996, 1999-2001 and 2002-2003. Antibiotic sensitivity pattern was also analyzed.

Results: 861 episodes (1994-1996: 282, 1999-2001: 362 and 2002-2003: 217) of nosocomial bloodstream infection were documented in 841 patients, corresponding to 3.63, 5.94 and 4.99 episodes per 100 patient-days, respectively. Gram negative organisms were the predominant isolates; common being Klebsiella pneumoniae (20.1%), Enterobacter species (16.6%) and Acinetobacter species (8.6%). Staphylococcus aureus (16.4%) and yeast species (15.9%) were the major Gram positive isolates. Isolation of Staphylococcus aureus , Klebsiella and Acinetobacter species showed a rising trend while yeast (36.9%, 6.6% and 4.1%) showed a decline over the three time periods studied. An increasing trend of resistance to third generation cephalosporins, aminoglycosides, ciprofloxacin and newer antibiotics including combination of beta-lactam with beta-lactamase inhibitor was noted.

Conclusion: The predominant organisms responsible for nosocomial infection in the PICU were Klebsiella pneumoniae , Staphylococcus aureus and Enterobacter species . At present, carbapenems plus vancomycin appear to be the best choice for empiric antibiotic therapy in the PICU in Chandigarh.