Background: Hospital-acquired (nosocomial) infection is a common serious health problem worldwide, especially in pediatric intensive care units and is associated with high mortality and morbidity, prolonged hospital stays and high cost.
Aim: To determine the types of organisms involved in hospital-acquired an infection in two pediatric intensive care units during the one-year study and its anti-microbial susceptibility.
Material and methods: This study was carried out in the pediatric intensive care units (PICU) of Ain Shams & Cairo Universities, where 86 pediatric patients were recruited. Their age ranged from 1 month to 156 months with mean 20.7 ± 25.8 months. Male to female ratio was 37:29. Four samples were collected from each child for culture and sensitivity: blood, endotracheal aspirate, urine and skin swab.
Results: The most common microorganism was staphylococcus while Gram-negative bacteria were the commonest group. Amikacin and imipenem are the most sensitive antibiotics. Risk estimate for different risk factors among studied patients revealed no significance.
Conclusion: Staphylococcus was the commonest micro-organism while Gram-negative infections were the commonest group among PICU with a predominance of Acinetobacter and Klebsiella. Respiratory infections were the most common, followed by blood-borne infection. Risk factors for mortality were not significant.
Keywords: Anti-microbial; Egypt; Hospital-acquired infection; Pediatric ICU.