Frequency of Nosocomial Bacterial Infections in Hospitalized Patients Referred to Amir Al-Momenin Hospital, Gerash, Iran

Background: Nosocomial infections are one of the significant and important medical, social, and economic problems in all countries, which may cause loss of life and a financial burden on infected patients. Objectives: This study is aimed to investigate the frequency of nosocomial bacterial infections with multidrug-resistance in hospitalized patients referred to Amir Al-Momenin Hospital, Gerash, Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed within one year, from the beginning of October 2015 to the end of October 2016, on 300 hospitalized patients referred to Amir Al-Momenin Hospital, Gerash, Iran. Specific culture mediums were used based on each sample, and bacterial strains were isolated in sterile conditions. Appropriate antibiotics were used in case of each isolated strain. Urinary tract infections were not considered in this study. Nosocomial infection diagnosis criteria were according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) definitions for nosocomial infections. Results: The frequency of nosocomial bacterial infection and the rate of bacterial hospital-acquired infections with multidrug-resistance in this study were calculated 9.6% and 6%, respectively. The most isolated microorganisms were respectively Staphylococcus epidermidis (43.33%) and Escherichia coli (16.66%). Most cases of these infections were isolated from blood samples (60%) and sputum samples (20%). The highest resistance was shown to cefixime and ampicillin antibiotics. Conclusions: We conclude that Staphylococcus epidermidis was the most common cause of nosocomial infection in hospitalized patients, and blood infections were the most common type of hospital infection in this study.