Prevalence and Microbiological Profile of Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infections: A Case Study in Secondary Care Hospital

Background and Objectives: Healthcare-associated infections is a major health care concern posing potentially serious negative impact on patient safety and outcome. In this paper, we report this microbiological profile and the prevalence of Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infections (CAUTIs). Methods: This was a prospective observational study for 60 inpatients from eight wards among patients having indwelling catheter for at least 48 hours. Urine cultures were taken in initial phase within 24 hour of admission, at 48 hours and in day 5 of catheterization. Findings: The rate of CAUTIswas 16.7% after 48 hours and 28% (7/25) after 5 days from insertion the indwelling catheter.Candida spp. was the most common cause of CAUTIs (29.4%), followed by E. coli (23.5%), Streptococcus spp. and Klebsiella spp. (17.6%) and last Staphylococcus spp. (11.7%). The coronary care unit (CCU) showed the highest prevalence of CAUTIs (57.1%), followed by Oncology (42.8%), and Internal Medicine (33.3%). Females showed a significantly higher rate of acquired urinary tract infections compared with males (P < 0.05). Conclusions: The risk of CAUTIs was found to be relatively high and increase by duration of catheterization. These results recommend minimally usage of catheter in medical practice in terms of both frequency and time, particularly for female patients and in CCU ward. Identification of the microbiological profile of the CAUTIs would help efficient treatment of the infected patients.