Nosocomial intestinal infections in a pediatric ward. The importance of phone inquiries to the families.

Intestinal nosocomial infections remain a major concern in pediatric wards where they occur synchronously with syncytial respiratory virus infections. Material and methods. - During the 1997-1998 winter, we systematically list ed the intestinal nosocomial infections that emerged in the pediatric wards of the Clermont-Ferrand hospital. After their discharge, the families of t he children who were not hospitalized for acute diarrhea were contacted by telephone. Results. - Among 817 hospitalized children, 27% were admitted to the hospit al for acute epidemic gastroenteritis. One hundred forty-four children were listed as having nosocomial gastroenteritis, 96 (66.6%) during the hospita l stay and 48 (33%) after discharge, which represents 5.8% of all the admis sions. Intestinal nosocomial infections increased with the number of admiss ions per day and per month, and occurred in 28.1% of the cases of syncytial respiratory virus bronchiolitis that concern children of the same age. Rot avirus was found in 28% of nosocomial infections, yet if was responsible fo r 85.5% of the hospital readmissions for nosocomial infections. Conclusion. - Further studies should try to find solutions to decrease the frequency of those concomitant diseases. (C) 2000 Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.