Incidence of and Risk Factors for Hospital-Acquired Diarrhea in Three Tertiary Care Public Hospitals in Bangladesh

Mejbah Uddin Bhuiyan, Stephen P. Luby, Rashid Uz Zaman, M. Waliur Rahman, M. A.Yushuf Sharker, M. Jahangir Hossain, Choudhury H. Rasul, A. R.M.Saifuddin Ekram, Mahmudur Rahman, Katharine Sturm-Ramirez, Eduardo Azziz-Baumgartner, Emily S. Gurley

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

During April 2007-April 2010, surveillance physicians in adult and pediatric medicine wards of three tertiary public hospitals in Bangladesh identified patients who developed hospital-acquired diarrhea. We calculated incidence of hospital-acquired diarrhea. To identify risk factors, we compared these patients to randomly selected patients from the same wards who were admitted > 72 hours without having diarrhea. The incidence of hospital-acquired diarrhea was 4.8 cases per 1,000 patient-days. Children < 1 year of age were more likely to develop hospital-acquired diarrhea than older children. The risk of developing hospital-acquired diarrhea increased for each additional day of hospitalization beyond 72 hours, whereas exposure to antibiotics within 72 hours of admission decreased the risk. There were three deaths among case-patients; all were infants. Patients, particularly young children, are at risk for hospital-acquired diarrhea and associated deaths in Bangladeshi hospitals. Further research to identify the responsible organisms and transmission routes could inform prevention strategies.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)165-172
Number of pages8
JournalAmerican Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Volume91
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2014
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Infectious Diseases
  • Virology
  • Parasitology

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