Bloodstream Infection Risk, Incidence, and Deaths for Hospitalized Patients during Coronavirus Disease Pandemic
Bhavarth Shukla, Prem R. Warde, Eric J. Knott, Sebastian Arenas, Darryl Pronty, Reinaldo Ramirez, Arely Rego, Miriam Levy, Martin Zak, Dipen J. Parekh, Tanira Ferreira, Hayley B. Gershengorn
Abstract
Hospital-acquired infections are emerging major concurrent conditions during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. We conducted a retrospective review of hospitalizations during March‒October 2020 of adults tested by reverse transcription PCR for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. We evaluated associations of COVID-19 diagnosis with risk for laboratory-confirmed bloodstream infections (LCBIs, primary outcome), time to LCBI, and risk for death by using logistic and competing risks regression with adjustment for relevant covariates. A total of 10,848 patients were included in the analysis: 918 (8.5%) were given a diagnosis of COVID-19, and 232 (2.1%) had LCBIs during their hospitalization. Of these patients, 58 (25%) were classified as having central line‒associated bloodstream infections. After adjusting for covariates, COVID-19‒positive status was associated with higher risk for LCBI and death. Reinforcement of infection control practices should be implemented in COVID-19 wards, and review of superiority and inferiority ranking methods by National Healthcare Safety Network criteria might be needed.