Nosocomial Infection in Veterinary Medicine: A Rare Event or Neglected by Veterinarians?

Abstract

In humans, nosocomial infections (HI), also known as healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), are those acquired by patient during hospital stay. They are unrelated to the reason for which the patient was hospitalized, and may manifest, mostly due to bacteria, during or after hospitalization. The environment has a strong connection with cases of nosocomial infection in human medicine, however, in veterinary medicine, there is still not much information regarding this connection, since there is no effective data on these infections. The main multidrug-resistant microorganisms involved in nosocomial infections in humans are: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus (MRS), Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE), Gram-negative bacteria (Enterobacteriaceae family, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumanii) that produce extended-spectrum betalactamase (ESBL) and those producing carbapenemases. As previously mentioned, bacteria are the main microorganisms involved in cases of nosocomial infections, which may come from the patient himself (endogenous contamination) after an immunological decline or come from the environment or cross-contamination (other animals or via health professionals). Generally, the bacteria involved in nosocomial infections are multi-resistant to antimicrobials, especially those most used in hospitals, which makes treatment and patient improvement even more difficult. Despite research related to antimicrobial resistance, the reality of the clinical routine of animals does not seem to be in line with the world reality. There are few studies in veterinary medicine regarding nosocomial infections (some extremely punctual), In the other hand, these infections are already a reality in veterinary hospitals, mainly of small animals, and, unfortunately, they are most of the time neglected due to the difficulty of their traceability or even by the lack of knowledge.