RESUMO
Since 1985, the Hospital Säo Paulo has a nosocomial infection (NI) control program. The NI control commitee acts in all sectors of the hospital, performing active epidemiologic surveillance. During a period of 58 months (March, 1985 to december, 1989) 8, 268 NI were identified in the 86,849 hospiytalized patients, representing a rate of 9.5 por cento. The most prevalent NI was that of the respiratory tract 21.8 per cent (1,803) followed by: surgical wound 16.7 per cent (1,383), urinary tract 12.2 per cent (1,011), bloodstream 11.2 per cents (924) and other sites 38 per cent (3,147). There was a significant fall in NI rate for each site, mainly respiratory and urinary tract. The patients admitted to the General Intensive Care Unit represented 11 per cent (897) of all detected NI. Some of most frequently isolated agents were: S. aureus 19 per cent (915), E. coli 14 per cent (673), Klebsiella spp 12.4 per cent (598) and pseudomonas spp 12.2 per cent (587)