• Luis E Cuellar, Eduardo Fernandez-Maldonado, Victor D Rosenthal, Alex Castaneda-Sabogal, Rosa Rosales, Manuel J Mayorga-Espichan, Luis A Camacho-Cosavalente, and Luis I Castillo-Bravo.
• Division of Infection Control, Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Neoplásicas (INEN), Lima, Peru.
• Rev. Panam. Salud Publica. 2008 Jul 1;24(1):16-24.

ObjectivesTo measure device-associated infection (DAI) rates, microbiological profiles, bacterial resistance, and attributable mortality in intensive care units (ICUs) in hospitals in Peru that are members of the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC).MethodsProspective cohort surveillance of DAIs was conducted in ICUs in four hospitals applying the definitions for nosocomial infections of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance System (CDC-NNIS) and National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN).ResultsFrom September 2003 to October 2007 1 920 patients hospitalized in ICUs for an aggregate of 9 997 days acquired 249 DAIs, accounting for a rate of 13.0% and 24.9 DAIs per 1 000 ICU-days. The ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) rate was 31.3 per 1 000 ventilator-days; the central venous catheter-associated bloodstream infections (CVC-BSI) rate was 7.7 cases per 1 000 catheter-days; and the rate for catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) was 5.1 cases per 1 000 catheter-days. Extra mortality for VAP was 24.5% (RR 2.07, P < 0.001); for CVC-BSI the rate was 15.0% (RR 2.75, P = 0.028). Methicillin-resistant strains accounted for 73.5% of all Staphylococcus aureus DAIs; 40.5% of the Enterobacteriaceae were resistant to ceftriaxone, 40.8% were resistant to ceftazidime, and 32.0% were resistant to piperacillin-tazobactam. Sixty-five percent of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates were resistant to ciprofloxacin, 62.0% were resistant to ceftazidime, 29.4% were resistant to piperacillin-tazobactam, and 36.1% were resistant to imipenem.ConclusionsThe high rates of DAIs in the Peruvian hospitals in this study indicate the need for active infection control. Programs consisting of surveillance of DAIs and implementation of guidelines for infection prevention can ensure improved patient safety in the ICUs and throughout hospitals.

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