Healthcare-associated infections acquired in intensive care units - Annual Epidemiological Report for 2019

In 2019, 8 874 (7.4%) of patients staying in an intensive care unit (ICU) for more than two days presented with at least one ICU-acquired healthcare-associated infection (HAI) under surveillance (pneumonia, bloodstream infection, or urinary tract infection).

Of all patients staying in an ICU for more than two days, 4% presented with pneumonia, 3% with bloodstream infection (BSI), and 2% with urinary tract infection (UTI). Some 96% of pneumonia episodes were associated with intubation, 44% of BSI episodes were catheter-related, and 94% of UTI episodes were associated with the presence of a urinary catheter. The most frequently isolated microorganism was Klebsiella spp. in ICU-acquired pneumonia episodes, coagulase-negative staphylococci in ICU-acquired bloodstream infections, and Escherichia coli in ICU-acquired urinary tract infections.

Antimicrobial use was empirical in 59% of days of therapy (DOTs), directed in 23% of DOTs, and prophylactic in 14% of DOTs. Some 11% of Staphylococcus aureus isolates were oxacillin-resistant (MRSA), and 14% of Enterococcus spp. isolates were glycopeptide-resistant. Resistance to third-generation cephalosporins was reported in 15% of E. coli isolates, 38% of Klebsiella spp. isolates, and 37% of Enterobacter spp. isolates. Carbapenem resistance was reported in 17% of Klebsiella spp. isolates, 26% of P. aeruginosa isolates, and 82% of Acinetobacter baumannii isolates.