ABSTRACT
All 5,543 patients discharged from 24 wards of Maharaj Nakhon Chiang Mai hospital from April 8 to July 7, 1987 were studied. It was found that 29.2 per cent of patients had community infections, 6.3 per cent (348) of the patients developed nosocomial infections, the infection rate was 9.3 per cent (514 episodes). The highest infection rate was found among ICU, followed by private, surgical, medical, pediatrics, and Ob-Gyn nursing services. Females were more affected than males. The most common infections were urinary and respiratory; followed by bacteremia, surgical wound infections, infections of skin, and gastrointestinal tract. E. coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella species were the major causative micro-organisms. The commonly used antibiotics were penicillins and aminoglycosides. Patients who had a nosocomial infection had to stay in hospital for an average of 17 days longer than patients who did not. The mortality rate of patients who had a nosocomial infection was 3.8 times that of patients who did not.