A recent Italian publication has studied hospital-acquired infections (HAI) in critically ill COVID-19 patients. 774 patients with COVID-19 treated at intensive care unit (ICU) at 8 hospitals in Italy were included.
The publication1 shows that 46 % of the critically ill COVID-19 patients developed HAI, of which 38 % were caused by multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacteria. It also showed that the most common HAIs were VAP and CRBSI;
- 50 % of the HAIs were ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP)
- 10 % of the HAIs were catheter-related blood stream infections (CRBSI)
Patients with HAI and septic shock had almost double mortality. The authors comment their findings:
Critically ill COVID-19 patients are at high risk for HAIs, especially VAPs and BSIs due to MDR organisms. HAIs prolong mechanical ventilation and hospitalization, and HAIs complicated by septic-shock almost doubled mortality.”
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*Grasseli et al. Chest 2021, online ahead of print