Risk and causes of paediatric hospital-acquired bacteraemia in Kilifi District Hospital, Kenya: a prospective cohort study
A study has been published in the Lancet on the magnitude and causes of hospital-acquired (nosocomial) bacteraemia in African children has
The authors reviewed prospectively collected surveillance data of 33 188 admissions to Kilifi District Hospital, Kenya, between April 16, 2002, and Sept 30, 2009.
They found that the overall risk of nosocomial bacteraemia during this period was 5·9/1000 admissions (95% CI 5·2–6·9) but we recorded an underlying rise in risk of 27% per year. The incidence was 1·0/1000 days in hospital (0·87–1·14), which is about 40 times higher than that of community-acquired bacteraemia in the same region. Mortality in patients with nosocomial bacteraemia was 53%, compared with 24% in community-acquired bacteraemia and 6% in patients without bacteraemia. In survivors, nosocomial bacteraemia lengthened hospital stay by 10·1 days (3·0–17·2).
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