Hospital-associated infections among pediatric patients are most commonly attributable to bloodstream infections, according to a new European study published in the journal The Lancet Infectious Disease.
For the study, researchers examined documentation of 770 HAIs reported among 726 children and adolescents in Iceland, Norway and Croatia. Analysis revealed bloodstream infections to be most prevalent, accounting for 45 percent of all infections. Lower respiratory tract infections clocked in at second, accounting for 22 percent of infections; then gastrointestinal infections at 8 percent; ear, nose and throat infections at 7 percent; urinary tract infections at 5 percent; and surgical-site infections at 4 percent.
While the majority of bloodstream infections were reported in infants younger than 12 months, prevalence was also high in other age groups. Bloodstream infections in neonates and children are potentially deadly and can incite long-term adverse neurological conditions.
"Infection prevention and control strategies in children should focus on prevention of bloodstream infections, particularly among neonates and infants," wrote the study's authors.
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