[Epidemiology of nosocomial septicemia (author's transl)]

During recent decades the incidence of nosocomial septicemia has considerably increased. From 1976--1980 on average 0.6% of 39, 802 prospectively analyzed hospital patients acquired septicemia. The risk of acquiring nosocomial septicemia in intensive care units is 10 times higher than in general wards. The risk is highest in medical and surgical intensive care units. Most common bacteria causing nosocomial septicemia were: Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Escherichia coli. Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Nosocomial pneumonia, wound infections and venous catheter infections most often lead to septicemia. In half the patients with septicemia the infection either directly caused death or contributed to the death of the patient. The hospital costs for patients with septicemia are twice as high as for patients with the same underlying disease without septicemia.