Microbiology services in public sector hospitals of Pakistan.

The purpose of clinical microbiology laboratory is to identify the actual etiologic agent(s) of infectious disease(s) based on morphological, biochemical, immunological and molecular procedures. Proficiency in isolating and identifying microorganisms, determining drug resistance of isolates; and in reporting the results is essential for the early detection and treatment of nosocomial pathogens. A Microbiologist is essentially interlinked with committees regarding hospital policy-making, infection-control, surveillance, investigation of infections in patients and personnel and maintaining a continuing education program. In the final analysis, the patients' well-being and health benefit most from clinical microbiology laboratory. This overview emphasizes the role of microbiology laboratory in government hospitals of Pakistan and general health care, without which the problem of multiple antibiotic resistance can only become worse.

Surgical site infections, International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) report, data summary of 30 countries, 2005-2010.

OBJECTIVE: To report the results of a surveillance study on surgical site infections (SSIs) conducted by the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC). DESIGN: Cohort prospective multinational multicenter surveillance study. SETTING: Eighty-two hospitals of 66 cities in 30 countries (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Greece, India, Kosovo, Lebanon, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Salvador, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Sudan, Thailand, Turkey, Uruguay, and Vietnam) from 4 continents (America, Asia, Africa, and Europe). PATIENTS: Patients undergoing surgical procedures (SPs) from January 2005 to December 2010. METHODS: Data were gathered and recorded from patients hospitalized in INICC member hospitals by using the methods and definitions of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Healthcare Safety Network (CDC-NHSN) for SSI. SPs were classified into 31 types according to International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, criteria. RESULTS: We gathered data from 7,523 SSIs associated with 260,973 SPs. SSI rates were significantly higher for most SPs in INICC hospitals compared with CDC-NHSN data, including the rates of SSI after hip prosthesis (2.6% vs. 1.3%; relative risk [RR], 2.06 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.8-2.4]; P < .001), coronary bypass with chest and donor incision (4.5% vs. 2.9%; RR, 1.52 [95% CI, 1.4-1.6]; [P < .001); abdominal hysterectomy (2.7% vs. 1.6%; RR, 1.66 [95% CI, 1.4-2.0]; P < .001); exploratory abdominal surgery (4.1% vs. 2.0%; RR, 2.05 [95% CI, 1.6-2.6]; P < .001); ventricular shunt, 12.9% vs. 5.6% (RR, 2.3 [95% CI, 1.9-2.6]; P < .001, and others. CONCLUSIONS: SSI rates were higher for most SPs in INICC hospitals compared with CDC-NHSN data.