Prevalence and associated factors for healthcare-associated infections in a pediatric setting and pediatric intensive care unit of the Vicente Corral Moscoso Hospital Original Research

Abstract

Introduction: Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) are communicable infections that occur after 48 hours of hospitalization without being present at the time of admission. The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence and risk factors for HAI in pediatric settings.

Methods: The present cross-sectional and analytical study was conducted in the pediatric area and pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of the Vicente Corral Moscoso Hospital in Cuenca, Ecuador from May 2018-October 2019. Children aged 29 days to 16 years were included in a probabilistic sample. The observed variables were the presence of HAI, age, nutritional status, admission diagnosis, days of hospitalization, use of mechanical ventilation, use of catheters, hospitalization site, isolated germs, and antibiotic resistance. Descriptive statistics and the prevalence ratio (PR) are reported.

Results: There were 385 cases with 212 males (55.1%). The most prevalent age group was infants (31.4%). The prevalence of HAI was 13.5% (95% CI 13.33-13.68%). The main HAI was sepsis (40.4%) followed by pneumonia (36.5%). For the other variables, the PR was as follows: age <24 months PR 2.55 (95% CI 1.5-4.2, P <0.001), malnutrition PR 4.07 (95% CI 2.5-6.6, P <0.001), hospitalization >14 days PR 32.0 (95% CI 16.6-61.6, P <0.001), and central venous catheter PR 16.6 (95% CI 8.7-32.2, P <0.001).

Conclusions: There is a prevalence of HAI was higher than 10% and was associated with factors such as longer hospital stays, malnutrition, and the use of invasive devices.