Impact of SARS-CoV-2 preventive measures against healthcare-associated infections from antibiotic-resistant ESKAPEE pathogens: A two-center, natural quasi-experimental study in Greece

Our latest research was just published open access in Antibiotics, 22 June 2023.

Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Preventive Measures against Healthcare-Associated Infections from Antibiotic-Resistant ESKAPEE Pathogens: A Two-Center, Natural Quasi-Experimental Study in Greece

by

Bolikas E, Astrinaki E, Panagiotaki E, Vitsaxaki E, Saplamidou S, Drositis I, Stafylaki D, Chamilos G, Gikas A, Kofteridis DP, and Kritsotakis EI.

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Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic led to unprecedented stress on healthcare systems worldwide, forming settings of concern for increasing antimicrobial resistance. We investigated the impact of SARS-CoV-2 preventive measures against healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) from antibiotic-resistant bacteria in two tertiary-care hospitals. We compared infection rates between March 2019 and February 2020 (pre-intervention period) and March 2020 and February 2021 (COVID-19 intervention period) from drug-resistant ESKAPEE bacteria (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; vancomycin-resistant Enterococci; carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter species and Escherichia coli). Over 24 months, 586 drug-resistant ESKAPEE HAIs occurred in 439 patients (0.3% of 179,629 inpatients) with a mean age of 63 years, with 43% being treated in intensive care units (ICUs), and having a 45% inpatient mortality rate. Interrupted time series analysis revealed increasing infection rates before the intervention that were sharply interrupted by abrupt drops for most pathogens and henceforth remained stable in the ICUs but progressively increased in ordinary wards. In the ICUs, the pooled infection rate was 44% lower over the intervention period compared to the pre-intervention period (incidence rate ratio (IRR) 0.56, 95%CI 0.41–0.75, p < 0.001). Pooled infection rates in the wards were slightly higher over the COVID-19 period (IRR 1.12, 95%CI 0.87–1.45, p = 0.368). The findings confirmed the ancillary beneficial impact of the enhanced bundle of transmission-based precautions adopted against SARS-CoV-2 in rapidly constraining antimicrobial-resistant HAIs in two Greek hospitals.

Keywords: antibiotic resistance; healthcare-associated infection; SARS-CoV-2; infection control; multidrug resistance; epidemiology

Figure S1. Monthly rates of healthcare-associated infections from multidrug-resistant ESKAPEE pathogens, before and during the intervention, presented separately for intensive care units and ordinary wards. Dots: observed rates. Solid line: predicted rates from Poisson regression model adjusted for seasonality. Dashed line: deseasonalized trend. Vertical long dashed line: time of the beginning of the intervention