Prevalence of nosocomial infections at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire du Point G in Bamako, Mali.

The aim of this study was to determine the hospital prevalence of nosocomial infections.

Patients and methods: This was a prospective cross-sectional descriptive study conducted over a period of six (6) weeks.

Results: 463 patients stayed for at least 48 hours. Of these, 57 patients were included, representing a prevalence of 12.3%. Mean age was 45.4 ± 20.8 years. Average length of stay was 21.7 ± 12.7 days. Patients came from intensive care (17.5%), internal medicine and neurology (15.8% each). HIV immunodepression was found in 14%. An invasive device was present in 93% of cases. Microbiological samples taken were: urine cytobacteriological examination (36 cases), pus sampling (19 cases), blood culture (23 cases). Infections were urinary (30 cases), surgical site (16 cases), bacteremia (15 cases), ventilator-associated pneumonia (2 cases). A germ was isolated from these samples in 94.4% of cases. The germs found were enterobacteria (33 cases), non-fermenting Gram-negative bacilli (12 cases), Gram-positive cocci (6 cases) and yeasts (3 cases). The ecology was dominated by a high level of resistance among the germs involved in these infections.

Conclusion: This study showed a high prevalence of nosocomial infections, with a varied resistance profile of the germs involved. It is important to extend this work in order to learn from it.