title: Frequency of hospital acquired pneumonia and its microbiological etiology in medical intensive care unit.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objectives were to assess the frequency of hospital acquired pneumonia (HAP) in patients admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) and to determine the frequencies of different etiological organisms in these patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was descriptive cross sectional study, which was carried out in medical ICU of Shifa International Hospital Islamabad from January 2013 to January 2014. A total of 1866 patients were admitted in the department of medicine including medical ICU. They were evaluated for HAP and the causative organisms were cultured from these patients. Identification was carried out by standard biochemical profile of the organisms.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The total number of patients admitted in medical ICU for any reason were 346. HAP was diagnosed in 88 patients (25.4%). The average age of patients admitted in Medical ICU with HAP was 48 years with the range of 16 to 82 years. 56 were male and 32 females. 42 patients (47.7%) died in medical ICU with HAP. Microbiological analysis showed that Pseudomonas aeruginosa were 27 (30.6%), Acinetobacter spp. were 12 (13.6%), Candida albicans were 12 (13.6%), Klebsiellapneumoniae were 9 (10.2%), Streptococcus spp. were 9 (10.2%), Escherichia coli were 5 (5.6%), Stenotrophomonas spp. were 4(4.5%), Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) were 4 (4.5%) others organisms 6 (6.8%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The frequency of HAP in Medical ICU of our hospital is 88 out of 346 (25.4%). The commonest organism identified was Pseudomonas aeruginosa (30.6%) followed by Acinetobacter and Candida albican (13.6% each).
authors.affiliation: Dr. Muhammad Imran, FCPS, MCPS. Pulmonologist, Fellow in ICU Medicine, Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Imran
authors.affiliation: Dr. Alina Amjad, MBBS, Mphil Microbiology. Military Hospital, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Alina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Amjad
authors.affiliation: Dr. Fakhir Raza Haidri, MCPS, FCPS.
authors.forename: Fakhir Raza
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Haidri
keywords: Causative agents; HAP; Hospital acquired pneumonia; Intensive care unit; Prevalence