title: Surveillance of catheter-associated urinary tract infection in 4 intensive care units at Alexandria university hospitals in Egypt.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We sought to measure the incidence rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs), identify risk factors associated with acquiring the infections; and identify the etiologic and antibiotic resistant patterns associated with CAUTIs in the intensive care units (ICUs) of a large University Hospital in Alexandria, Egypt.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective active surveillance of CAUTIs was conducted in 4 ICUs during a 13-month period from January 1, 2007 through January 31, 2008 in Alexandria University Hospital using the standard Centers for Disease Control National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance (NNIS) case definitions. Rates were expressed as the number of infections per 1000 catheter days.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the study period, 757 patients were monitored after ICU admission, with either existing indwelling urinary catheters (239), or got catheters inserted after ICU admission (518), for a total duration of 16301 patient days, and 10260 patient catheter days. A total of 161 episodes of infection were diagnosed, for an overall rate of 15.7 CAUTIs per 1000 catheter days. Important risk factors associated with acquiring CAUTI were female gender (Relative risk (RR), 1.7; 95% confidence interval (CI); 1.7-4.3), and previous catheterization within the same hospital admission (RR, 1.6; 95% CI; 1.3-1.96). Patients admitted to the chest unit, patients =40 years, patients with prolonged duration of catheterization, prolonged hospital and ICU stay had a significantly higher risk of acquiring CAUTIs. Out of 195 patients who had their urine cultured, 188 pathogens were identified for 161 infected patients; 96 (51%) were Candida, 63 (33.5%) gram negatives, 29 (15.4%) gram positives. The prevalence of ESBL producers among K. pneumoniae and E. coli isolates was 56% (14/25) and 78.6% (11/14), respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite infection control policies and procedures, CAUTI rates remain a significant problem in Alexandria University hospital. Using the identified risk factors, tailored intervention strategies are now being implemented to reduce the rates of CAUTIs in these 4 ICUs.
authors.affiliation: Infection Control Unit, International Emerging Infections Program (IEIP), US Naval Medical Research Unit, No. 3, Cairo, Egypt. Maha.talaat.ctr.eg@med.navy.mil
authors.forename: Maha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Talaat
authors.forename: Soad
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hafez
authors.forename: Tamer
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saied
authors.forename: Reham
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Elfeky
authors.forename: Waleed
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: El-Shoubary
authors.forename: Guillermo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pimentel
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification; D055499:Catheter-Related Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004534:Egypt / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005658:Fungi / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D008297:Male; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D014552:Urinary Tract Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D055815:Young Adult