Ta. Schlager et al., INTRAVASCULAR CATHETER COLONIZATION IN CRITICALLY ILL CHILDREN, Infection control and hospital epidemiology, 18(5), 1997, pp. 347-348
In a prospective study, cultures were obtained of all intravascular ca
theters removed from children in an intensive-care unit. Of 366 cathet
ers removed from 217 children, 110 (30%) were found to be colonized, m
ost commonly with coagulase-negative staphylococci. Despite the high r
ate of colonization, there were only nine instances (2%) of catheter-r
elated bacteremia.