SHEA Spring Conference

Few patients at one Chicago institution who originally tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 tested positive the second time around, according to recent data.

Researchers found that the responsibility for antimicrobial stewardship programs at Veterans Affairs hospitals that did not have support from an infectious disease specialist often fell to pharmacists.

The incidence of vancomycin-resistant enterococci bloodstream infections significantly increased in California hospitals during the second and third quarter of 2020 compared with the same period in 2019, a report showed.

More than half of the urine cultures collected at two primary care clinics during a recent 16-month period were contaminated, according to data presented during the virtual Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America Spring Meeting.

Assessments in the ED can identify patients who are eligible to have a penicillin allergy removed from their electronic health record, according to findings of a pilot study presented virtually at the SHEA Spring Conference.

An assessment of antibiotic prescribing practices for adult patients with uncomplicated, recurring UTIs showed that prescriptions often do not align with Infectious Diseases Society of America guidelines, researchers reported.

An Iowa hospital’s infection prevention and control program experienced a 500% increase in call volume last year — an under-evaluated impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers said at the SHEA Spring Conference.

Stopping contact precautions for MRSA and vancomycin-resistant enterococci did not lead to a major increase in either infection at five Texas hospitals, researchers reported at the SHEA Spring Conference.

Fewer clinic visits resulted in a reduction in antibiotic prescriptions for acute respiratory infections, UTIs and skin and soft tissue infections in 2020 vs. 2019, according to findings presented virtually at the SHEA Spring Conference.

Using a traditional definition of health care-associated influenza missed more than 80% of possible cases among patients admitted to acute-care hospitals during seven influenza seasons, researchers reported at the SHEA Spring Conference.