• Isaac See, Fernanda C Lessa, Omar Abo ElAta, Soad Hafez, Karim Samy, Amani El-Kholy, Mervat Gaber El Anani, Ghada Ismail, Amr Kandeel, Ramy Galal, Katherine Ellingson, and Maha Talaat.
• Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia.
• Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2013 Dec 1;34(12):1281-8.

ObjectiveTo report type and rates of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) as well as pathogen distribution and antimicrobial resistance patterns from a pilot HAI surveillance system in Egypt.MethodsProspective surveillance was conducted from April 2011 through March 2012 in 46 intensive care units (ICUs) in Egypt. Definitions were adapted from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Healthcare Safety Network. Trained healthcare workers identified HAIs and recorded data on clinical symptoms and up to 4 pathogens. A convenience sample of clinical isolates was tested for antimicrobial resistance at a central reference laboratory. Multidrug resistance was defined by international consensus criteria.ResultsICUs from 11 hospitals collected 90,515 patient-days of surveillance data. Of 472 HAIs identified, 47% were pneumonia, 22% were bloodstream infections, and 15% were urinary tract infections; case fatality among HAI case patients was 43%. The highest rate of device-associated infections was reported for ventilator-associated pneumonia (pooled mean rate, 7.47 cases per 1,000 ventilator-days). The most common pathogens reported were Acinetobacter species (21.8%) and Klebsiella species (18.4%). All Acinetobacter isolates tested (31/31) were multidrug resistant, and 71% (17/24) of Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates were extended-spectrum β-lactamase producers.ConclusionsInfection control priorities in Egypt should include preventing pneumonia and preventing infections due to antimicrobial-resistant pathogens.

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