Respiratory infectious diseases in intensive care units’ patients during 2024, in two hospitals in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

Introduction. Viral, bacterial, and fungal infections represent a major health concern, contributing significantly to increased morbidity and mortality in respiratory diseases. Objective. To characterize respiratory infections and their etiological agents in patients admitted to intensive care units during the first six months of 2024. Materials and methods. An observational, cross-sectional, prospective study was conducted in two hospitals between January 1st. and June 30th., 2024. Clinical and microbiological data were collected (dates, age, sex, type of sample, results, and diagnoses) and analyzed using IBM SPSS™ Statistics 27.0. Results. Of the 56 patients admitted, 35 presented respiratory infections, predominantly in females, with a mean age of 49 years. The following agents were identified: rhinovirus/enterovirus, influenza A, coronavirus, parainfluenza, and respiratory syncytial virus. Among the most frequent bacteria found were: Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Haemophilus influenzae, Enterobacter cloacae, Escherichia coli, Proteus spp., Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Serratia marcescens, Streptococcus agalactiae and S. pneumoniae. Bacterial resistance genes such as CTX-M, KPC, mecA/mecC, and MREJ, NDM, Oxa48-like, and VIM were also detected. In the case of fungal infections, Candida albicans and Candida glabrata were isolated. Most patients with respiratory illness progressed to hospital-acquired pneumonia. Conclusion. During the study period, respiratory infections in the intensive care units were mainly associated with bacterial pathogens, with a high frequency of hospital-acquired pneumonia and the detection of antimicrobial resistance genes.