Abstract: Prospective study in all the patients admitted to the ICUs between April 2000 and March 2001 by daily concurrent surveillance aimed at analyzing the ICU-acquired nosocomial infections by infection site and etiologic pathogens distribution. A total of 1 918 patients in 5 ICUs were documented of whom 267 ICU-acquired infections were documented (13.92%). The main types of ICU-acquired infections were lower respiratory infections (39.70%), digestive tract infections (29.96%), and urinary tract infections (15.73%). The most frequently reported microorganisms were fungi (37.98%), Staphylococcus aureus (24.05%), and Escherichia coli (10.13%). Fungi and Staphylococcus aureus are the dominant etiologic pathogens of the ICU-acquired nosocomial infections.

Key words: intensive care unit, nosocomial infection, etiologic pathogen