Infectious Disease

VRE Bloodstream Infections Rise in California Hospitals Amid COVID-19

April 21, 2021

1 min read

Source / information

Source:
Parriott A et al. Comparison of health care-related infection rates in the hospital during the pandemic and pandemic before COVID-19. Presented at: SHEA Spring Conference; 13-16 April 2021 (virtual meeting).

Disclosure:
Parriott does not report any relevant financial information. Healio Primary Care was unable to confirm the other researchers’ relevant financial statements at the time of publication.

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The incidence of vancomycin-resistant enterococcal bloodstream infections in California hospitals increased significantly in the second and third quarters of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, a report showed.

However, there was “insufficient evidence” of significant changes in the incidence of more common infections – Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) and methicillin-resistant staphyloccocus aureus (MRSA) bloodstream infections (BSI) – reported in these hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic Researcher.

The incidence of vancomycin-resistant enterococcal bloodstream infections in California hospitals increased significantly in the second and third quarters of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, a report showed. Photo source: Adobe Stock

The results were presented at the virtual SHEA spring conference.

Andrea Parriott, MPH, PhD, The study author and a researcher on the Health-Related Infection Program at the California Department of Health (CDPH) told Healio Primary Care there were concerns that “potential shortages and reuse of personal protective equipment, increased use of antibiotics, and general distraction are reducing resources from infection prevention activities During the pandemic, it could impact advances California hospitals have made in reducing the incidence of other health-related infections. “

Therefore, Parriott and colleagues collected data reported by California hospitals to the National Healthcare Safety Network to analyze the Standard Incidence Rate Ratios (SIR) for Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci (VRE) BSI, CDI, and MRSA BSI.

The researchers reported that the crude incidence rate of VRE BSI increased in the second and third quarters of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019 (SIR = 1.4; 95% CI, 1.16-1.7). However, between 2015 and the second and third quarter of 2020 there were no statistically significant changes in the SIR for either MRSA BSI or CDI.

Parriott said that while the VRE BSI results may be due to differences in patient risk profiles, “for CDI and MRSA BSI, there is insufficient evidence of a change in incidence rather than claiming that the rate has remained unchanged. “

This distinction is “important because the CDC created risk adjustment models (which take into account hospital characteristics and patient mix) for CDI and MRSA BSI, but not for VRE BSI,” continued Parriott.

She added that CDPH did not rule out the possibility that California’s recent improvements in reducing CDI and MRSA BSI in hospitals were set back during the pandemic.

“CDPH uses the results of these analyzes to inform and prioritize our prevention work and technical support for hospitals in the future,” she said.

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SHEA Spring Conference

SHEA Spring Conference

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