Abstract
Infections in the critically ill patients are challenging and increasing length of stay in ICU, subsequent morbidity, and mortality. It is widely recognized that all patients in ICU are prone to develop infections, both because of the severity of illness and treatments’ invasiveness. A prevalence study [1] found a 51% prevalence of infection in ICU patients, with lungs being the most frequent site of infection (64%), followed by the abdomen, bloodstream, and urinary tract. Several factors increase the risk of infection for ICU patients (including length of stay, mechanical ventilation, medical or emergency surgery admission), and infection by itself is related to increased mortality and ICU and hospital length of stay. The infection prevalence varies significantly between continents and appears to be higher when the percentage of gross domestic product devoted to healthcare systems is low.
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Comisso, I., Bambi, S. (2018). General Considerations About Infection Prevention. In: Nursing in Critical Care Setting. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50559-6_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50559-6_9
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