ABSTRACT
Background and rationale@#Intensive Care Units (ICU) are wards where very sick patients are admitted and they are usually connected to invasive devices such as respirator, urine catheter etc. Patients in ICU are more likely (5 – 10 times) to have hospital-acquired infections than those admitted to other wards of the same hospitals. Very little is known about hospital-acquired infections in Laos, including the species of bacterial contaminating ICU. Information on this issue is essential for a hospital to plan on how to manage the environment and set stricter measures to avoid nosocomial infections in the ICU.@*Methodology@#This was a research survey conducted to determine the types and quantity of bacterial contamination in ICUs of a hospital in Vientiane. Open plate technique was applied by placing 256 media plates in 8 rooms of paediatric (n=3) and adult (n=5) ICUs. Controls were closed plates. Plates were sent to and bacteria were identified at National Centre of Laboratory and Epidemiology, Vientiane, Laos.@*Results@#Eight pathogens were identified and the most predominant bacteria found was Coagulase negative Staphylococcus spp. (56.0%), followed by Bacillus spp. (19.7%), Acinetobacter spp. (12.5%), Micrococcus spp. (8.4%), Escherichia coli (1.9%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (0.8%), Providencia rettgeria (0.4%) and Proteus mirabilis (0.3%). Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Providencia rettgeri were not found in adult ICUs and Proteus mirabilis was not found in paediatric ICUs. The overall mean (95%CI) colonies of pathogens found in paediatric and adults ICUs was 83.04 CFU/dm2 (43.21 - 149.42 CFU/dm2) and 48.54 CFU/dm2 (21.96 - 135.00 CFU/dm2), respectively.@*Conclusion@#This study suggested that there were many bacteria contaminated in the ICUs of this hospital with a considerable quantity. Therefore, the hospital should have a better strategic plan to manage its environment and improve sterilization in the ICUs in order to reduce hospital-acquired infections among patients.