Krn. Santos et al., INCIDENCE SURVEILLANCE OF WOUND-INFECTION IN HERNIA SURGERY DURING HOSPITALIZATION AND AFTER-DISCHARGE IN A UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL, The Journal of hospital infection, 36(3), 1997, pp. 229-233
A six-month prospective incidence surveillance of wound infection was
conducted in the department of general surgery of the Rio de Janeiro U
niversity Hospital. Postoperative infections were classified according
to Centers for Disease Cont;ol criteria. This study reports a rate of
14.04% in surgical infections limited to herniorrhaphy and detected b
y surveillance. The majority (87.50%) of them were only apparent after
hospital discharge. Fourteen out of 16 patients (88.60%) were not dee
med to be at risk for surgical infections. Staphylococcus aureus was t
he most important pathogen associated with infection. This report show
s that community surveillance is necessary to determine accurate rates
of hospital-acquired infection and will help establish prevention and
control policies in Brazil.