Surveillance of Nosocomial Infections by Antibiotic Monitoring

Records of all patients receiving intravenous gentamicin sulfate during a 92-day interval were reviewed to detect nosocomial infections that had been missed by routine surveillance. Only 46 of 48 of the 99 treatment courses had been detected. In 96% of cases not detected by routine surveillance, use of gentamicin was considered justified. Of the patients missed by surveillance, 83% were in oncology wards, and 46% had severe neutropenia and fever of unknown origin. Antibiotic surveillance proved a useful adjunct in estimating the incidence of nosocomial infections in such patients.