There were 34 CLABSIs (25 patients) within the study period resulting in an overall rate of 4.4/1.000 catheter-days. The highest rate was observed in PICUs (14.4) followed by NICUs (2.4), BMTU (1.9) and oncology units (1.8). The most common isolate was Enterobacter (20%), followed by Klebsiella (16%), E.coli and Candida (14%) and Pseudomonas (11%). Multi-drug resistant organisms predominated with 2/3 (66%) of enterococci exhibiting resistance to vancomycin and 15/24 (62%) of the Gram negatives were resistant to third generation cephalosporins (likely ESBLs). Carbapenem resistance was seen in 1/24 (4%) of Gram negative isolates.
Almost all patients had received antibiotics in the previous month (92%). 52% of the children who experienced a CLABSI were oncology patients. 56% of children with CLABSI had received parenteral nutrition and 76% blood transfusion within 7 days from the infection.