Low incidence of nosocomial infections in an oncologyward

Introduction: According to the existing data approximately one of ten patients is exposed to a nosocomial infection while they are hospitalized. The immune system of oncological patients is frequently weakened, and a higher incidence of nosocomial infections could therefore be expected in an oncology ward. Objectives: To determine the incidence and type of nosocomial infections in an oncology ward. Methods: A structured analysis of 771 patients which covered all hospitalizations during a 3 month period. The records were reviewed by applying the criteria, for specific type of infections, based upon definitions by the National Healthcare Safety Network at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and modified to danish conditions by National Centre of Infection Control at Statens Serum Institut. The main focus was on pneumonia, bacteremia, urinary tract, diarrhea, and mouth. Results: Twenty patients (2, 6%) had a nosocomial infection (Table 1). One hundred twenty-one patients (15, 6%) had an ongoing infection when admitted to the ward. (Table Presented) Conclusions: The incidence of nosocomial infections in the oncology ward was lower than expected from previous studies. Our findings indicate that focus should be on urinary tract and mouth hygiene in order to achieve a further reduction. The risk of nosocomial infections has not previously been reported selectively from oncological wards, but the risk found in this study is lower than those previously reported from medical and surgical wards.