Trends in Nosocomial Blood Stream Infection in PICU of a Tertiary Care Hospital

Objective: To determine the local pathogens and antimicrobial sensitivity pattern in the Pediatric intensive care unit of Children Hospital Lahore and its impact on patients’ outcomes. Study Design: Prospective longitudinal study. Place and Duration of Study: Pediatric intensive care unit of Children Hospital, Lahore Pakistan from Feb 2021 to Feb 2022. Methodology: All the children who were admitted to Pediatric intensive care unit during the study period were included; those having positive blood culture at admission, discharged, or who died within the 48 hours of admission were excluded. Blood cultures were sent after 48 hours of admission in patients having features suggestive of nosocomial BSI; those having positive blood cultures were considered to have nosocomial bloodstream infection(BSI) as per the definition of CDC. Demographic, microbiological, and other variables were documented. Results: The mean age of patients was 3.0± 4.7 with age ranges from 1 month to 14 years 734(63.9%) were males and 423 (36.1%) were females. The bloodstream infection was confirmed by a positive blood culture report in 169(14.7%) patients. The normage of patients with BSI (n=169) was 1.6 ±6.04 and the average duration of stay of children with nosocomial BSI was 15.0± 39.97 (p-value < 0.001). The average days of mechanical ventilation in children with nosocomial BSI were 9.0±37.04 (p-value = 0.003). Among the Conclusion: The frequency of nosocomial BSI in PICU is quite high, which in turn is associated with a longer duration of stay and poor outcomes. The emergence of highly resistant organisms,