Ventilator-associated nosocomial pneumonia in intensive care units in Malaysia.
BACKGROUND
The outcome indicator of nosocomial infection (NI) in the intensive care unit (ICU) is used to benchmark the quality of patient care in Malaysia. We conducted a three-year prospective study on the incidences of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), risk factors, and patterns of the microorganisms isolated in three ICUs.


METHODS
A follow-up in prospective cohort surveillance was conducted on patients admitted to an adult medical-surgical ICU of a university hospital and two governmental hospitals in Malaysia from October 2003 to December 2006. VAP was detected using CDC criteria which included clinical manifestation and confirmed endotracheal secretion culture results.


RESULTS
In total, 215 patients (2,306 patient-days) were enrolled into the study. The incidence of ICU-acquired device-related NI was 29.3 % (n = 63). The device-related VAP infection rate was 27.0 % (n = 58), with a mechanical ventilator utilization rate of 88.7%. The death rate due to all ICU-acquired NI including sepsis was 6.5%. The most common causative pathogen was Klebsiella pneumoniae (n = 27). Multivariate analysis using Cox regression showed that the risk factors identified were aspiration pneumonia (HR = 4.09; 95% CI = 1.24, 13.51; P = 0.021), cancer (HR = 2.51; 95% CI = 1.27, 4.97; P = 0.008), leucocytosis (HR=3.43; 95% CI= 1.60, 7.37; P=0.002) and duration of mechanical ventilation (HR=1.04; 95% CI = 1.00, 1.08; P = 0.030). Age, gender and race were not identified as risk factors in the multivariable analysis performed.


CONCLUSIONS
The incidence of VAP was comparable to that found in the National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance (NNIS) System report of June 1998. The incidence of VAP was considered high for the three hospitals studied.
Gopal Katherason
Supaletchimi
S
Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine (INFORMM), Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kelantan, Malaysia. supa0026@yahoo.co.uk
Naing
Lin
L
Jaalam
Kamarudin
K
Imran Musa
Kamarul
K
Nik Mohamad
Nik Abdullah
NA
Aiyar
Subramaniar
S
Bhojani
Kavita
K
Harussani
Najah
N
Abdul Rahman
Aisai
A
Ismail
Asma
A
D000328:Adult; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D008296:Malaysia; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018410:Pneumonia, Bacterial / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D053717:Pneumonia, Ventilator-Associated / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors