Comparison of hospital-acquired infection rates in paediatric burn patients.

The objective of the present study was to determine risk factors for development of the most common hospital-acquired infections in paediatric burn patients in order to give recommendations for surveillance. The prospective cohort study in a paediatric burn centre was conducted over a period of two years using uni- and multivariate analysis for risk factor identification. In a group of 41 children with an mean total burn surface area (TBSA) of 18.9% 42 hospital-acquired infections were observed. The overall infection rate was 59.7 nosocomial infections per 1000 patient days, the device-associated nosocomial infection rates per 1000 device days were 55.2 for pneumonia, 8.9 for primary bloodstream infections and 41.7 for urinary tract infections. The incidence density of burn wound infections was 18.5 per 1000 patient days. The percentage of TBSA was a significant risk factor for burn wound infections, but percentage of TBSA was not a risk factor for the device-associated infections. Duration of urinary catheter use and ventilation were identified as risk factors for the corresponding hospital-acquired infection. Surveillance of hospital-acquired infections in burn intensive care units should be performed in the same way as other intensive care unit types, as recommended by the National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance system, without consideration of the percentage of TBSA. In addition, burn wound infections should be recorded using the percentage of TBSA for stratification of burn wound infection rates. Copyright 2002 The Hospital Infection Society