Objective  To investigate the incidence of nosocomial infections in a hospital in Jilin province from 2014 to 2017, and to provide evidences for developing preventive measures.

  Methods  We collected the data of 2014 – 2017 on incidences of nosocomial infection among inpatients in a hospital in Jilin province and analyzed the data retrospectively.

  Results  Among the 9 960 person times hospitalizations, totally 294 nosocomial infections were diagnosed in the hospital during the 4-year period, with an incidence rate of 2.95%. Significant yearly and seasonal difference were observed in the incidence rate of nosocomial infections (both P < 0.05) and the incidence rate was significantly higher among the female inpatients than that among the male inpatients (P < 0.05). The top five departments with higher nosocomial infection rate were intensive care unit (7.57%), respiratory medicine (5.08%), oncology department (4.63%), anorectal department (4.13%), and neurology department (3.85%). Lower respiratory tract (34.35%), urinary tract (17.69%), and upper respiratory tract (14.63%) ranked the top three of the infection sites. Of the 221 pathogenic bacteria strains isolated among the nosocomial infecitions, 73.76% were Gram-negative bacteria and the most and the least frequently isolated pathogens were Klebsiella pneumoniae (27.60%) and fungi (5.43%).

  Conclusion  The incidence of nosocomial infections decreased and the incidence rate was relatively higher among female inpatients and during the third and fourth quarter in a year between 2014 and 2017 in a hospital in Jilin province.