A 25-year study of nosocomial bacteremia in an adult intensive care unit

Abstract

Bacteremias have become more frequent in the ICU, probably because of the increased use of intravascular catheters, which are the most frequent foci for bacteremic infection. The spectrum of organisms has changed, and this can be temporally related to the changes in the antibiotics prescribed. Gentamicin resistance of gram-negative organisms has not increased during a 25-yr period, despite being one of the most frequently prescribed antibiotics in the ICU.