OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the occurrence of infection in elderly interned in long-term care facilities (LTCF) during 13 consecutive months. METHODS: Fifty five elderly were evaluated according to infection and, reporting was standardized. RESULTS: The median age was 75 (66 81) years. The data set consisted of 20,896 patients-day (PD) of care during the period, with a total of 76 infections for a pooled mean rate of infections 3.20 per 1,000 PD of care. Patient infection rate was 63.6%. Prevalent topographies of infection were respiratory (50%), urinary tract (32%), skin and soft tissue (12%) and gastroenteritis (7%), with an infection rate for specific categories/1000 PD of 1.60, 1.01, 0.38, 0.21, respectively. Mortality infection rate was 5%. Microbiological agents were isolated in 30.5% of the infection episodes. Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were prevalent. CONCLUSION: Infection presented an elevated incidence in the elderly interned, but no unusual problem with infections was disclosed.
Elderly; Infection; Epidemiology; Long-term care facilities
