RESUMO
Nosocomial bacteremia (NB) is one of the most severe infections in burns in intensive care units. Their prognosis is worsened with the emergence and spread of multidrug resistant bacteria (MDR). Our retrospective study aimed to investigate clinical and bacteriological characteristics of NB occurring in patients hospitalized in the Trauma and Burn Center's Burn Unit (TBC-BU) in Tunisia, during a 3-year period (2016-2018). We found 261 NB in 216 patients, for a prevalence of 25.7% and an incidence density of 13.4 days of in-patient stay. The vast majority (88.9%) of NB occurred during the first 2 weeks of hospitalization. The catheterrelated bacteremia rate was 11.1%. P. æruginosa (20.2%) and A. baumannii (16.8%) were the 2 species most frequently isolated when S. aureus represented only 7.5% of isolates. Resistance rates were high, with 71% of P. æruginosa resistant to ceftazidime, 64% of S. aureus being MRSA, 69,5% of resistance to 3rd generation cephalosporins among Enterobacteriaceae, and colimycin remaining the only regularly active antibiotic (98%) on A. baumannii. The MDR rate was 44%, represented mainly by A. baumannii, ESBL-E and P. æruginosa. The mortality rate due to NB was 25%, with a significantly higher rate of MDR in fatal NB compared to that in NB with favorable outcome (p = 0,000019).
