Medical Information Weblog

Nosocomial infections are those that are incurred by the patient during the stay in the hospital or health center, which are not related at all with the condition for which admission was due. This means that the infection was not present in either the incubation period when the patient was admitted.

Most frequent nosocomial infections

the most common nosocomial infections of this type occur in wounds or surgical incisions in the lower respiratory tract and urinary tract. Research related to this type of pathology denote the areas of greatest risk are the operating room, intensive care and orthopedics wards for care of severe pathologies.

Nosocomial infection of the higher recurrence of urinary tract infections, caused mostly by fungi, enterobacteria, enterococci and Pseudomonas. Early surgical infections that occur between 24 hours and 48 hours after surgery are usually caused by hemolytic streptococcus B or Clostridium. Staph infections occur 4 to 6 days later.

Respiratory infections are caused by Klebsiella, Enterobacter, and Proteus Ecoli, which are germs that usually occur in isolated environments. Intravenous catheters and major surgeries such as neurosurgery have high risk of infection, taking into account the catheters and prostheses implemented are likely to be infected or colonized.
Causes and consequences

Individuals are more likely to get patients whose immune system is compromised, patients receiving chemotherapy, with underlying diseases and the elderly.

Nosocomial infections can prolong hospital stay, increasing costs of patient care, an average of nine days.

These infections occur when microorganisms colonize patients derived from the hospital environment, either on the skin, respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract being the main carriers of staff hands, water, food, and bathroom surfaces rooms, other patients and environmental ventilation system among others.
Prevention of nosocomial infections

the nosocomial infection control becomes an increasingly important and complex for hospitals and medical centers. Continuing education programs in infection control procedures are being implemented, including the verification of academic preparation in terms of infection prevention nursing staff, cooking and cleaning at medical centers and hospitals.