[Infection in elderly interned in long-term care facilities].
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the occurrence of infection in elderly interned in long-term care facilities (LTCF) during 13 consecutive months.


METHODS
Fifty five elderly were evaluated according to infection and, reporting was standardized.


RESULTS
The median age was 75 (66 81) years. The data set consisted of 20,896 patients-day (PD) of care during the period, with a total of 76 infections for a pooled mean rate of infections 3.20 per 1,000 PD of care. Patient infection rate was 63.6%. Prevalent topographies of infection were respiratory (50%), urinary tract (32%), skin and soft tissue (12%) and gastroenteritis (7%), with an infection rate for specific categories/1000 PD of 1.60, 1.01, 0.38, 0.21, respectively. Mortality infection rate was 5%. Microbiological agents were isolated in 30.5% of the infection episodes. Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were prevalent.


CONCLUSIONS
Infection presented an elevated incidence in the elderly interned, but no unusual problem with infections was disclosed.
Villas Bôas
Paulo José Fortes
PJ
Departamento de Clínica Médica, Faculdade de Medicina de Botucatu, Unesp, SP.
Ferreira
Ana Lúcia dos Anjos
AL
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D006707:Homes for the Aged / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008134:Long-Term Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male