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[Incidence and risk factors for nosocomial infections in a neonatology unit]
J L Saleta1, M Rosales, V Domínguez
1Servicio de Medicina Preventiva y Salud Publica, Complejo Hospitalario Juan Canalejo-Marítimo de Oza, La Coruña.
Objective:
Neonatal nosocomial infection is a very important cause of morbidity and death in the hospital setting. The aim of our work is to study the incidence and risk factors associated with nosocomial infection in a neonatal unit.
Method:
We followed 321 patients in a 6-month-long prospective, observational study. As units of measurement we used Incidence Density and Accumulative Incidence. For the statistical analysis we used chi-square and the logistic regression.
Results:
Nosocomial infection incidence density for the whole neonatal unit was 39.63% infections per 100 patients per month, while the accumulative incidence was 16.19%. Using a logistic regression method, the umbilical cord artery catheterization and days of stay variables both showed a statistically significant difference with nosocomial infection.
Conclusions:
We conclude that minimizing length of stay, if possible below 10 days could be a key element to achieve a reduction in the neonatal unit's infection rate. However, new studies must be performed to ascertain if a strict enforcement of the rules pertaining to hand-washing and umbilical catheters manipulation would achieve further reductions in the infection rate associated with the umbilical cord catheterization.