Major infections in hospitalized patients with stroke: a prospective study

Objective: to describe the occurrence of infection in patients with stroke. Materials and Methods: a cohort prospective study of 143 patients admitted to a stroke unit from december / 2014 to june / 2015. Results: the mean age was 67.8 years with history of hypertension and ischemic stroke; the main infections were related to the respiratory (8.4%) and urinary tract (7.7%); the invasive devices used, were: peripheral venous access (95.1%) and  nasoenteral tube (31.25%); the prevalent microorganisms were escherichia coli and MRSA. Protections to occurrence of infection were related to:  non-alcoholic patients and non- HIV infection carriers; non-use of urinary catheter and endotracheal intubation (p> 0.05); presence of hemorrhagic stroke predisposed to occurrence of urinary tract infection (p> 0.05). Conclusion:  prognosis of the patient depends on the type of stroke and occurrence of infections related to health care.