INTRODUCTION: Treatment of @entity5 has contributed to a growing number of immunocompromised @entity1 with life-threatening @entity580 ( @entity580 ). High mortality with considerable cost is observed when they are admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). Few studies on @entity281 control and surveillance have been undertaken in this population group. METHODS: All @entity1 treated at a six-bed medical-surgical oncology ICU for > 48 hours were prospectively observed for the development of an @entity580 and the influence of device utilization on @entity281 rates. The analysis used the standard definitions of the National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance System Intensive Care Unit surveillance component. RESULTS: From September 1993 through November 1995, 370 @entity281 occurred in 623 @entity1 during 4034 @entity1 -days, for an overall rate of 50.0 per 100 @entity1 or 91.7 per 1000 @entity1 -days. @entity55 (28.9%), @entity293 (25.6%), and bloodstream @entity281 (24.1%) were the main types of @entity281 . The most common microorganisms isolated were Enterobacteriaceae (29.7%), fungi (22.2%), and @entity796 (13.2%). The median device utilization ratios were 0.63, 0.83, and 0.86 for ventilator, indwelling urinary catheter, and central venous catheter, respectively. The highest median device-specific associated @entity281 rate was 41.7 for ventilator. The median for the average length of stay was 8.8 days, and the average severity of illness score was 4.0. There was a strong positive correlation between the overall @entity580 @entity1 rate and device utilization (r = 0.56, p < 0.01), average severity of illness score (r = 0.54, p < 0.01), and average length of stay (r = 0.67, p < 0.01). No correlations were statistically significant when @entity1 -days were used in the denominator. Among the devices only the number of central venous catheter days was significantly correlated with @entity281 (r = 0.51, p = 0.01). The @entity580 @entity1 -day rates were progressively higher the longer the @entity1 stayed in the ICU. CONCLUSIONS: The high rates reported in this study may reflect a combination of several factors related to the underlying illness, neutrophil count, and exposure to invasive procedures. The adjusted @entity281 rates described here provide specific surveillance data for further interhospital comparisons and also to assess the influence of invasive medical interventions, allowing the implementation of preventable measures to control @entity281 .

XXXX in an oncology intensive care unit.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patients', 'patient'] @entity796 :: ('287', 'Species') :: ['Pseudomonas aeruginosa'] @entity55 :: ('MESH:D011014', 'Disease') :: ['Pneumonia'] @entity5 :: ('MESH:D009369', 'Disease') :: ['cancer'] @entity281 :: ('MESH:D007239', 'Disease') :: ['infection', 'infections'] @entity580 :: ('MESH:D003428', 'Disease') :: ['NI', 'nosocomial infections'] @entity293 :: ('MESH:D014552', 'Disease') :: ['urinary tract infections']
@entity580 :: (MESH:D003428,Disease) :: ['Nosocomial infections']
