Occurrence of colonization and infection with multidrug-resistant organisms in a neonatal intensive care unit

To determine the occurrence of colonization and subsequent infection with multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) among patients in the neonatal intensive care unit and to assess the yield of surveillance cultures.

Cultures of nose, throat and stool were obtained from 196 neonates admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the Clinical Center of the University of Sarajevo in the six-month period upon admission and once a week if the length of stay was more than seven days. At the same time clinical relevant samples (blood, urine, CSF, wounds swabs, tracheal aspirates) were examined for presence of MDROs. Identification and antibiotic sensitivity pattern of organisms were determined according to the CLSI.

A total of 126 (64.3%) patients were identified as colonized and 50 (25.5%) as infected with MDROs. 44.4% (56) of patients were colonized on admission. Fecal carriage was most common with extended-spectrum beta lactamase (ESBL)-producing Klebsiella pneumonia, and nose/throat with Acinetobacter baumannii. The patients become colonized more often during the first week of hospitalization (31.7%; p less .001). The infection is more observed in patients who had previously been colonized than those who had not (78% vs. 22%; p less 0.05). The most common infection was the blood infection (bacteremia). The median length of stay in neonates with an infection was 3.5 weeks and without infection 1 week (p less than 0.001).

An infection was more frequently observed in patients who had been previously colonized than those who had not. Microbial surveillance is necessary to detect colonized neonates when multidrug-resistant organisms become epidemic.