[Epidemiological analysis of nosocomial infections at the "Arcispedale St. Anna" in Ferrara between 1989 and 1991].

The Authors describe the results of an epidemiology project on nosocomial infection performed from 1989 through 1991 at the "Arcispedale S. Anna", Ferrara, Italy. Data are considered from 4.183 patients who were hospitalized for surgical treatment and intensive care: 301 patients (7.2%) developed 402 episodes of infection, namely 1.34 infections per patient. 8.2% of the patients who underwent surgery had at least one infection, while 3.9% of the those who did not have surgery showed at least one infection. The majority of infections came out higher among those submitted (11.4%) than among those not submitted (4.4%) to antibiotic prophylaxis. Infections were caused by both Gram+ and Gram- bacteria, and often the infections were polimicrobial.