Background: Nosocomial infections increase the cost of medical care, extend hospital stay and reflect on the morbidity and
mortality of the admitted patients. Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are one of the most common nosocomial infections in
humans.
Objectives To determine the prevalence and antibiogram of nosocomial UITs from a referral hospital.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 1 254 patients from April to August 2010. Antimicrobial susceptibility
tests were done using disc diffusion technique as per the standard of Kirby-Bauer method.
Results: Of the 1 254 patients, 118 (9.4%) developed nosocomial UTIs. Seventy three (61.9%) and 44 (37.1%) of the
bacterial isolates were gram negative and gram positive, respectively. One patient had a mixed infection.
E. coli
,
S. aureus
and
K. pneumonia
were the most predominant isolates. Gender, catheterization and pre-operative antimicrobial prophylaxis and
underlying diseases were significantly associated with the occurrence of nosocomial UTIs (p=0.001). Most bacterial isolates
showed high resistance rates (>80%) to ampicillin, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, chloramphenicol and cloxacillin.
Conclusion: Catheterization and preoperative antibiotic prophylaxis were found to be the risk factors for nosocomial
infection. Effective infection prevention measures should be in place to reduce the prevalence of nosocomial UTIs.
