title: [Prevalence of nosocomial infections in Catalonia. II. Microorganisms and antimicrobial agents].
abstract: In the prevalence study of infections carried out in 33 hospitals from Catalonia in 1988, where 7,434 patients were included, information about the responsible microorganisms and the prescribed antimicrobials was collected (in addition to the data on community and hospital infections and risk factors) and is reported in the present article. The microbiological diagnosis was made in 43% of hospital infections and in 31.9% of community infections. Gram negative organisms predominated (57.3% of isolates in hospital and 46.5% in community infections). The most prevalent organisms in hospital infections were Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa; the most common Gram positive organisms were Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus faecalis. 31.7% of the studied patients received antimicrobials. The health care area with the highest prevalence was Intensive Care (46.6%), and General Surgery had the lowest one (26.8%). There were no significant prevalence differences between the three types of hospitals depending on their size. The most commonly used antimicrobial was gentamicin. The empirical indication rate was remarkably high (58.6%), the rate of antimicrobials with a specific indication was low (16%), and the rate of use of prophylactic antimicrobials was high (25.4%). There also was a remarkable disparity and extension of the types of drugs used.
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002175:Candida / Q000302:isolation & purification; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D011010:Pneumocystis / Q000302:isolation & purification; D013030:Spain
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents
vernacular_title: Prevalencia de las infecciones nosocomiales en Cataluña. (II). Gérmenes y antimicrobianos.