COVID-19 cited in significant increase in healthcare-associated
infections in 2020
CDC analysis of National Healthcare Safety Network data compares
infection rates before and during pandemic

Date:
September 2, 2021
Source:
Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America
Summary:
After years of steady reductions in healthcare-associated
infections, significantly higher rates of four out of six routinely
tracked infections were observed in U.S. hospitals, according to
a new analysis.

Increases were attributed to factors related to the COVID-19
pandemic, including more and sicker patients requiring more frequent
and longer use of catheters and ventilators as well as staffing
and supply challenges.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== After years of steady reductions in healthcare-associated infections, significantly higher rates of four out of six routinely tracked infections
were observed in U.S. hospitals, according to a Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention analysis of data from the National Healthcare
Safety Network (NHSN) published today in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. Increases were attributed to factors related to the COVID-19
pandemic, including more and sicker patients requiring more frequent
and longer use of catheters and ventilators as well as staffing and
supply challenges.


========================================================================== "COVID-19 created a perfect storm for antibiotic resistance and
healthcare- associated infections?in healthcare settings. Prior to the pandemic, public health -- in partnership with hospitals -- successfully
drove down these infections for several years across U.S. hospitals,"
said Arjun Srinivasan, M.D., CDC's Associate Director of Healthcare
Associated Infection Prevention Programs. "Strengthening infection
prevention and control capacities works.

This information emphasizes the importance of building stronger, deeper
and broader infection control resources throughout healthcare that will
not only improve our ability to protect patients in future pandemics
but will also improve patient care every day." For this analysis,
researchers used data collected through NHSN, the nation's largest healthcare-associated infection surveillance system, which is used by
nearly all U.S. hospitals to fulfill local, state, or federal infection reporting requirements.

Major increases were found in 2020 compared to 2019 in four serious
infection types: central line-associated bloodstream infections, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, ventilator-associated
events, and antibiotic resistant staph infections. The largest increases
were bloodstream infections associated with central line catheters that
are inserted into large blood vessels to provide medication and other
fluids over long periods. Rates of central line infections were 46%
to 47% higher in the third and fourth quarters of 2020 compared to 2019.

With dramatic increases in the frequency and duration of ventilator use,
rates of ventilator-associated infections increase by 45% in the fourth
quarter of 2020 compared to 2019. The CDC analysis found sharp increases
in standardized infection rates, indicating that the increases were not
simply a reflection of more devices being used.

"Infection control practices in COVID-19 wards often adapted to shortages
of personal protective equipment, responded to fear of healthcare
personnel, and did not always lend themselves to better infection
prevention," said Tara N.

Palmore, M.D., and David K. Henderson, M.D., of the National Institutes
of Health, in an editorial that accompanied the study. "The success of
the previous several years, with steady declines in rates of these
(healthcare- associated) and device-related infections, further
accentuated the upswings that occurred in 2020." The study found
that two other types of infection remained steady or declined during
COVID-19. Surgical-site infections rates did not increase as fewer
elective surgeries were performed, largely in operating rooms with uninterrupted infection control processes that were separate from
COVID wards.

In addition, no increase was found in Clostridioides Difficile,or
C. diff,a serious bacterial infection that occurs after antibiotic
use. The study said lower rates of C. diff may be a result of increased
focus on hand hygiene, environmental cleaning, patient isolation, and
use of personal protective equipment.

"Basic infection control practices must be hardwired into practice
so that they are less vulnerable when the health care system
is stressed," the editorial concluded, "One approach might be to
designate clinical staff to be added to the hospital epidemiology team
to allow for rapid expansion of effort to support a pandemic response." ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Society_for_Healthcare_Epidemiology_of_America. Note: Content may be
edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal References:
1. Lindsey M. Weiner-Lastinger, Vaishnavi Pattabiraman, Rebecca
Y. Konnor,
Prachi R. Patel, Emily Wong, Sunny Y. Xu, Brittany Smith,
Jonathan R.

Edwards, Margaret A. Dudeck. The impact of coronavirus disease 2019
(COVID-19) on healthcare-associated infections in 2020: A summary of
data reported to the National Healthcare Safety Network. Infection
Control & Hospital Epidemiology, 2021; 1 DOI: 10.1017/ice.2021.362
2. Tara N. Palmore, David K. Henderson. Healthcare-associated
infections
during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Infection
Control & Hospital Epidemiology, 2021; 1 DOI: 10.1017/ice.2021.377 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/09/210902124943.htm

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