Infection control and hospital epidemiology : the official journal of the Society of Hospital Epidemiologists of America
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Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · Aug 2000
Nosocomial infections in combined medical-surgical intensive care units in the United States.
To describe the epidemiology of nosocomial infections in combined medical-surgical (MS) intensive care units (ICUs) participating in the National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance (NNIS) System. ⋯ Nosocomial infections in MS ICUs at the most frequent infection sites (bloodstream, urinary, and respiratory tract) almost always were associated with use of an invasive device. Device-associated infection rates were the best available comparative rates between combined MS ICUs, but the distribution of device-associated rates should be stratified by a hospital's major teaching affiliation status.