Epidemiological Characteristics of Resistant Microorganisms Present in Reserves from an Intensive Care Unit

Background: An environment occupied by patients infected with resistant bacteria can become contaminated, thus favoring the dissemination of these bacteria.

Objective: The present study aimed to determine the epidemiological characteristics of clinically important microorganisms when present on the surfaces, in solutions, on equipment, or in the blood cultures of patients from an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Methods: This research applied a cross-sectional study between July and October 2009. Samples were taken from the degerming agent cardiac function monitor, mechanical fan, hospital bed grid, faucet, bedside table, stethoscope, and sink. The samples were cultivated in BHI, MacConkey, and Sabouraud Agar solutions at 37º for 48h. The bacteria were identified by the colony morphology, Gram coloration, catalase test, and API Kit. The profile of sensibility was checked for vancomycin, imipenem, ciprofloxacin, and ceftriaxone. The environmental and blood culture isolates were compared using the repetitive extragenic palindromic sequences test and analyzed by the Unweighted Pair-Group method (BioNumerics, 6.0).

Results: An important environmental contamination in the ICU could be observed (p<0.004), not including the degerming agent (PVP-I 10%). On the stethoscopes, vanomycin resistant Enterococcus faecalis, ciprofloxacin resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and multiresistant Acinetobacter baumannii could be observed. Considerable similarities in percentages (60-80%) were found among environmental and blood culture isolates.

Conclusions: The surfaces near the patient tend to be contaminated by resistant bacteria, suggesting a clonal relation with the clinical isolates.