Evaluation of patients' characteristics by diagnosing nosocomial infections and its relationship with the rate of antibiotic resistance in Amir Al-Momenin Hospital

Background: Nosocomial infections account for about one-third of all hospital deaths. These types of infections are becoming more and more important, and are a serious challenge for the health system of countries. Investigating and controlling nosocomial infections is now a worldwide priority. In this regard, this study was designed to evaluate the characteristics of patients with nosocomial infections at Amir al-Momenin Hospital. Materials and methods: 211 patients were studied in a cross-sectional study. Initial data were extracted from the forms available in Hospital Infection Control Committee, and additional information was collected from patients' records in the laboratory. Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 23. Results: The prevalence of nosocomial infection was 2.7%. Pneumonia was the most common nosocomial infection with 74.4% incidence. Gram-negative bacilli with 87.6% incidence were the most common pathogen. Among the isolates, Acinetobacter constituted 94 (51%) of all the negative cases. Carbapenem resistant microorganisms were significantly different in the other two groups at the age of 80. Resistance to carbapenems was significantly higher in hospitalized patients more than 30 days rather than under 30 days. Resistance to third generation cephalosporins in E.coli and resistance to fluoroquinolones in Pseudomonas were significantly higher in admission duration of more than one month. Conclusion: The most common nosocomial infection was pneumonia. Age and duration of admission in carbapenem-resistant microorganisms were effective factors in microbial resistance for nosocomial infections and these two correlations were statistically significant. Frequency of microbial resistance to Acinetobacter was the highest.