[The costs of hospital infections in a group of patients in a tertiary-care hospital]. / Costos de infecciones intrahospitalarias de un grupo de pacientes en un hospital de tercer nivel de atención.

OBJECTIVE: To know the cost generated by nosocomial infections, to establish the proportion of the total hospital budget used in extra-days of stay, drugs, laboratory and others items used for the treatment. METHODS: We studied 131 nosocomial infections in 82 patients attended in hospital's departments from June to August 1995. We evaluated days of stay, type of infection, episodes per patient, drugs, laboratory, and others items used in the treatment of nosocomial infections. We took percentage of cost of every point and the mean of the total cost generated by year cause nosocomial infections and a cost per infection in every department. RESULTS: The total overtime of stay was 970 days, mean per infection was 7.4. Totals days of antimicrobials was 974, mean was 11.9 days per infection. The hospital processed 410 laboratory studies, 191 cabinet studies. The total cost generated by overtime stay was $3,415,860.00, and considering also drugs, laboratory and cabinet studies $3,516,421.00. CONCLUSIONS: The cost of the nosocomial infections depends on the overtime stay, drugs, laboratory and cabinet studies needed for their treatment. Neonatology generated presented more than one infection generating higher cost. Total cost in 3 months was $3'516,421.00, nosocomial infections would take $14'065,684.00 in a year, involving 12.1% of the hospital total budget. Preventive measures must be taken trying to diminish these costs.

[Incidence of common ophthalmological disorders in preschool children in Mexico City]. / Frecuencia de transtornos oftalmológicos comunes en población preescolar de una delegación de la ciudad de México.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of undetected vision abnormalities among preschool children. These problems can lead to a variety of adverse consequences, the most serious being amblyopia, which becomes irreversible after the fifth year without treatment. In some other countries there are screening programs to identify visual abnormalities among four year old children. In our country there are no studies about the prevalence of this problem among preschool children. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 39 preschool children were randomly selected from 93 kindergarten schools in a District of Mexico City. In total, 343 children were screened for ophthalmologic abnormalities by two pediatricians who were previously trained for this purpose. RESULTS: Fifty-seven (16.6%) children failed the visual acuity testing: four had strabismus, four cataract, and one glaucoma, and 48 refraction defects. Only 13 (3.8%) had been previously examined, ever. CONCLUSIONS: We consider that the prevalence found supports the recommendation to promote ophthalmologic examining as part of the routinary child care practice and to perform preventive preschool screening.