A study of nosocomial infection in a general hospital

The present study was conducted in Hail General Hospital, in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, over six months period starting from December 1994. All notified cases of nosocomial infections were taken into consideration. Cases who satisfied the definition and criteria of nosocomial infection were included in the study (n = 105). Data were abstracted from the special routine monthly resorts to the General Directorate of Health Affairs. The results of the present study revealed that invasive procedures were conducted for the majority of cases (81.9%). The most common site of infection was urinary tract (36.6%), followed by respiratory and wound infection (23.8% and 22.8% respectively), while other sites accounted for the remaining part of the sample (16.8%). Out of the culture positive cases (n = 101) gram negative bacteria represented 85.15% of cases where the most common ones were Klebsiella pneumonia and pseudomonas. Bivariate analysis revealed a significant linear association between invasive procedures and age (Mantel Hanszel test = 17.37). Moreover, invasive procedures were found to be significantly related to the occurrence of gram negative infection (chi2 = 4.77). Multiple regression analysis, for factors affecting length of hospital stay, showed that age and presence of host factors lowering host resistance had significant effect in prolonging the duration of stay among cases.