Background: Hospital-Acquired Infections represent a growing concern in Colombia's healthcare system, due to its relationship with an extended length of hospital stay, a higher morbidity and mortality and an increase in overall costs. The purpose of the following study was to perform an epidemiological characterization of Hospital-Acquired Infections reported during a four and a half years period in a University Hospital in Colombia. Methods: Information regarding the occurrence of Hospital-Acquired Infections was initially obtained from the Hospital's Epidemiologic Surveillance Committee Databases comprising the sought period. In cases in which all the information was not readily available, additional details of every patient were obtained from their respective clinical records. All data was condensed into a single database developed for the present study, and analyzed using statistical software. Results: A total of 1136 Hospital-Acquired Infections occurring in 953 patients were included, for an overall risk of 2,2 infections per 100 hospital discharges. Most of the (63,7%) were female, with an average age of 39,6 ± 25,8 years and a mean length of stay of 17,7 days. The most common infections, along with their relative frequencies, were: surgical site infections (25,9%), urinary tract infections (16,3%) and pneumonia (12,4%). The most commonly isolated microorganisms were: Escherichia coli (27,9%), Staphylococcus aureus (17,9%), Klebsiella pneumonia (11,1%) and Pseudomona aeruginosa (10,2%). After the start of intensive educational programs regarding techniques for the reduction of Hospital-Acquired Infections, these have dropped significantly, specially surgical site infections (p = 0,0213) and nosocomial sepsis (p = 0,0078); nevertheless, urinary tract infections have risen 104,8% during the study years. Conclusion: Hospital-Acquired Infections are relatively low in the studied hospital, when compared to similar Colombian and international institutions. The most frequent nosocomial infection was that of the surgical site, with the most common microorganism being E. coli, which showed a medium-to-low antibiotic resistance to first- and second-line antibiotics. In the studied hospital, intensive educational programs have showed a marked success in diminishing Hospital-Acquired Infection rates. Abstracts for SupplementInternational Journal of Infectious DiseasesVol. 14Preview Full-Text PDF Open Archive