Hospital Associated Infection

Nosocomial transmission of COVID-19 occurred at high rates among patients with cancer and appeared associated with increased mortality in this population, according to study results presented at AACR Virtual Meeting: COVID-19 and Cancer.

The estimated national burden of Clostridioides difficile infections and related hospitalizations declined between 2011 and 2017 because of a decrease in health care-associated infections, according to findings published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

It likely goes without saying that two of the most integral steps to fighting hospital-acquired infections are practicing antimicrobial stewardship and sound infection prevention strategies. We know that HAIs plague our health care systems and contribute to significantly increased morbidity, mortality and health care costs. The type of infections seen in health care are more commonly caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria and can easily spread from patient to patient, health care worker to patient, and environment to patient. A 2019 CDC report titled “Antibiotic Resistance Threats in the United States” sheds some light on the impact of MDR pathogens, which cause an estimated 2.8 million infections and at least 35,000 deaths each year. The report addresses core concepts such as antimicrobial stewardship, infection prevention and One Health approaches to combating antibiotic-resistant threats. Although these have been proven to be effective methods, we still have some barriers in everyday practice that make fighting HAIs challenging. Most clinicians would agree that when we collaborate in our efforts, we will be able to more effectively fight HAIs.

Bioaerosols produced by toilet flushing may help spread bacteria like Clostridioides difficile in hospitals, according to a pilot study conducted in the rooms of patients with C. difficile infection.

Gathering information on manual surveillance and clinical practices related to surgical site infections, or SSIs, can lead to the development of algorithms for semiautomated surveillance of these infections, according to findings from a retrospective cohort study.

Using high-risk antibiotics is an independent predictor of hospital-associated Clostridioides difficile infections, or HA CDIs, according to a study published in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.