Affiliations 

  • 1 Discipline of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Gelugor 11800, Pinang, Malaysia
  • 2 Department of Medicine, Faisalabad Medical University, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
  • 3 Department of Public Health Pharmacy and Management, School of Pharmacy, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Ga-Rankuwa, Pretoria 0208, South Africa
  • 4 Institute of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmaceutical and Allied Health Sciences, Lahore College for Women University, Lahore 54000, Pakistan
  • 5 Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Jouf University, Sakaka 72388, Saudi Arabia
  • 6 Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow G51 4TF, UK
Antibiotics (Basel), 2022 Dec 13;11(12).
PMID: 36551463 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics11121806

Abstract

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) have a considerable impact on morbidity, mortality and costs. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an appreciable number of hospitalized patients being admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) globally with a greater risk of HAIs. Consequently, there is a need to evaluate predictors and outcomes of HAIs among COVID-19 patients admitted to ICUs. A retrospective study of patients with COVID-19 admitted to ICUs of three tertiary care hospitals in the Punjab province over a five-month period in 2021 was undertaken to ascertain predictors and outcomes of HAIs. Of the 4534 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, 678 were admitted to ICUs, of which 636 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Overall, 67 HAIs were identified among the admitted patients. Ventilator-associated lower respiratory tract infections and catheter-related urinary tract infections were the most frequent HAIs. A significantly higher number of patients who developed HAIs were on anticoagulants (p = 0.003), antithrombotic agents (p < 0.001), antivirals (p < 0.001) and IL-6 inhibiting agents (p < 0.001). Secondary infections were significantly higher in patients who were on invasive mechanical ventilation (p < 0.001), had central venous access (p = 0.023), and urinary catheters (p < 0.001). The mortality rate was significantly higher in those with secondary infections (25.8% vs. 1.2%, p < 0.001). Our study concluded that COVID-19 patients admitted to ICUs have a high prevalence of HAIs associated with greater mortality. Key factors need to be addressed to reduce HAIs.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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