Intensive Care

Hospital-acquired infection is a serious problem in the ICU. Infection in ICU is associated with increased mortality, morbidity and carries a substantial economic burden. This study was carried out to explore the current situation regarding the prevalence of ICU acquired infections, along with the distribution of different types of infection in different governmental hospitals in Khartoum state. This is a prospective observational cross-sectional ICU-based study. The study was conducted in intensive care units of nine governmental hospitals in Khartoum state, during the period from August 2016 to March 2017. 1230 patients were enrolled in the study. Data collected using a predesigned data collection sheet. Then data were analysed using SPSS version 21. The majority (54%) of the patient population fell in age above 46 years. Males outnumbered females. 652 (53%) patients have developed an infection during ICU stay, at least two days after ICU admission. Considering the types of infection, it was found that 222 (34.04%) of them had pneumonia, 187 (28.68 %) had urinary tract infection, 121 (18.56%) of them had bloodstream infections, 101 (15.49%) had surgical site infection, 11 (1.69%) of them had gastroenteritis, 6 (0.92%) had skin, 3 (0.46%) of them had nose infections, and only 1 (0.15%) had an ear infection. More than one-half of patients were infected during their ICU stay. Pneumonia was the most common type of infection, followed by urinary tract infections. Various infection control measures should be implemented to minimize the prevalence of infections.