Epidemiology and Microbiological Profile of Common Healthcare Associated Infections among Patients in the Intensive Care Unit of a General Hospital in Kuwait: A Retrospective Observational Study

Background: Patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) are prone to develop nosocomial infections due to Multidrug-Resistant (MDR) organisms. Inappropriate and overuse of antibiotics play an important role in the emergence of MDR organisms, which cause life-threatening infections resulting in significant morbidity and mortality. Methods: Retrospective surveillance-based study on healthcare-associated infections. The study conducted over two consecutive years 2018 and 2019, looking at ICU related infections of a regional secondary care general hospital and the data were recorded using the methods and definitions of the Kuwait National Healthcare-associated infections Surveillance System (KNHSS). Results: A total of 1408 patients, admitted to ICU for 7922 days during the 2 years period. Eighty-nine patients were included in this study, where 48 developed one Hospital-acquired Infections (HAI) in the ICU while 25 and two patients presented with two and three HAIs, respectively. The HAIs included Bloodstream Infections (BSI) – 42.3%, pneumonia – 28.8%, Urinary Tract Infections (UTI) – 15.3%, skin and soft tissue infections – 9.6% and Clostridium difficile infection – 3.4%. The overall infection rate was 13.14 per 1000 patient-days. The rates for Device-associated (DA)-HAIs were 6.27 for Central Line-associated BSI (CLABSI) per 1000 Central Line (CL)-days, 4.21 for Ventilator-associated Pneumonia (VAP) per 1000 Mechanical Ventilator (MV)-days, and 1.91 Catheter-associated UTI (CAUTI) per 1000 Urinary Catheter (UC)-days. Data showed that device use ratios for CL, MV, and UC were 0.81, 0.74, and 0.98, respectively. Acinetobacter baumannii and Klebsiella pneumoniae were the most common organisms isolated from the ICU infections with highest rates of antibiotic resistance. Conclusion: Among DA-HAIs CLABSI was found to be most common in our ICU, followed by VAP and CAUTI. Gram-negative organisms with A. baumannii and K. pneumoniae being the leading causative agents with high antimicrobial resistance profiles.