Hospital-acquired infections in a Nigerian tertiary health facility: An audit of surveillance reports

BACKGROUND: Hitherto efforts to implement data driven prevention guidelines for hospital-acquired infections (HAI) in Nigeria have been limited by the inadequate knowledge of the risks of these infections. This study evaluated the occurrence of HAI in a foremost tertiary health facility over a 5-year period for the purpose of reinforcing control efforts. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective survey of records from the infection control unit of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria, was done for the years 2005-09. For the 5 years studied 22,941 in-patients were reviewed and the data of those who developed infections during admission were retrieved and analyzed. The prevalence, types, and causative organisms of HAI were determined. The chi-square test was used to evaluate associations. RESULTS: The prevalence of HAI over the 5-year period was 2.6% (95% CI: 2.4–2.8). Surgical and medical wards had the most infections (48.3%) and (20.5%) respectively. Urinary tract infection (UTI) and surgical site infection (30.7%) were the most prevalent (43.9%) HAI. UTIs were significantly higher in surgical and medical wards, surgical site infections in obstetrics and gynecology wards, and soft tissue infections and bacteremia in pediatric wards (P<0.05). Gram-negative infections occurred about four times as often as gram-positive infections with Klebsiella sp. and staphylococcus aureus being the predominant isolates (34.3%) and (20.1%) respectively. CONCLUSION: Efforts to limit HAI should be guided by local surveillance data if progress is to be made in improving the quality of patient care in Nigeria.