International nosocomial infection control consortium findings of device-associated infections rate in an intensive care unit of a lebanese university hospital

Objectives: To determine the rates of device-associated healthcare-associated infections (DA-HAI), microbiological profile, bacterial resistance, length of stay (LOS), excess mortality and hand hygiene compliance in one intensive care unit (ICU) of a hospital member of the International Infection Control Consortium (INICC) in Beirut, Lebanon.

Materials and methods: An open label, prospective cohort, active DA-HAI surveillance study was conducted on adults admitted to a tertiary-care ICU in Lebanon from November 2007 to March 2010. The protocol and methodology implemented were developed by INICC. Data collection was performed in the participating ICUs. Data uploading and analyses were conducted at INICC headquarters on proprietary software. DA-HAI rates were recorded by applying the definitions of the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). We analyzed the DA-HAI, mechanical ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLA-BSI), and catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) rates, microorganism profile, excess LOS, excess mortality, and hand hygiene compliance.

Results: A total of 666 patients hospitalized for 5,506 days acquired 65 DA-HAIs, an overall rate of 9.8% [(95% confidence interval (CI) 7.6-12.3], and 11.8 (95% CI 9.1-15.0) DA-HAIs per 1000 ICU-days. The CLA-BSI rate was 5.2 (95% CI 2.8-8.7) per 1000 catheter-days; the VAP rate was 8.1 (95% CI 5.5-11.7) per 1000 ventilator-days; and the CAUTI rate was 4.1 (95% CI 2.6-6.2) per 1000 catheter-days. LOS of patients was 7.3 days for those without DA-HAI, 13.8 days for those with CLA-BSI, 18.8 days for those with VAP. Excess mortality was 40.9% [relative risk (RR) 3.14; P 0.004] for CLA-BSI. Mortality of VAP and CAUTI was not significantly different from patients without DA-HAI. Escherichia coli was the most common isolated microorganism. Overall hand hygiene compliance was 84.9% (95% CI 82.3-87.3).

Conclusions: DA-HAI rates, bacterial resistance, LOS and mortality were moderately high, below INICC overall data and above CDC-NHSN data. Infection control programs including surveillance and antibiotic policies are essential and continue to be a priority in Lebanon.