Incidence of bacteraemia in a neurocritical care unit

The incidence of bacteraemia and bloodstream infection, as defined by the CDC, in our neurosciences critical care unit (NCCU) is at the moment unknown. It is known that being a patient in the intensive care environment is in itself a risk factor for the development of bacteraemia (3.2–4.1 per 100 admissions in several papers). The higher amount of invasive procedures and the severity of illness in this group of patients have been blamed. The aims of our study are: (1) to identify the incidence of bacteraemia in the NCCU, (2) to recognise the incidence of bloodstream infection (SIRS with bacteraemia), (3) to identify the most common pathogens associated with bacteraemia, and (4) to promote the continuous collection of data aiming to follow the behaviour of this problem in time.