Influence of bacterial resistance on mortality in intensive care units: a registry study from 2000 to 2013 (IICU Study).

BACKGROUND: Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is a daily concern in intensive care units. However, few data are available concerning the clinical consequences of in-vitro-defined resistance. AIM: To compare the mortality of patients with nosocomial infections according to bacterial resistance profiles. METHODS: The prospective surveillance registry in 29 French intensive care units (ICUs) participating during the years 2000-2013 was retrospectively analysed. All patients presenting with a nosocomial infection in ICU were included. FINDINGS: The registry contained 88,000 eligible patients, including 10,001 patients with a nosocomial infection. Among them, 3092 (36.7%) were related to resistant micro-organisms. Gram-negative bacilli exhibited the highest rate of resistance compared to Gram-positive cocci (52.8% vs 48.1%; P < 0.001). In-hospital mortality was higher in cases of patients with antibiotic-resistant infectious agents (51.9% vs 45.5%; P < 0.001), and critical care length of stay was longer (33 ± 26 vs 29 ± 22 days; P < 0.001). These results remained significant after SAPS II matching (P < 0.001) and in the Gram-negative bacilli and Gram-positive cocci subgroups. No difference in mortality was found with respect to origin prior to admission. CONCLUSION: Patients with bacterial resistance had higher ICU mortality and increased length of stay, regardless of the bacterial species or origin of the patient.

Impact of participation in a surgical site infection surveillance network: results from a large international cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Surveillance of surgical site infections (SSIs) is a core component of effective infection control practices, though its impact has not been quantified on a large scale. AIM: To determine the time-trend of SSI rates in surveillance networks. METHODS: SSI surveillance networks provided procedure-specific data on numbers of SSIs and operations, stratified by hospitals' year of participation in the surveillance, to capture length of participation as an exposure. Pooled and procedure-specific random-effects Poisson regression was performed to obtain yearly rate ratios (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), and including surveillance network as random intercept. FINDINGS: Of 36 invited networks, 17 networks from 15 high-income countries across Asia, Australia and Europe participated in the study. Aggregated data on 17 surgical procedures (cardiovascular, digestive, gynaecological-obstetrical, neurosurgical, and orthopaedic) were collected, resulting in data concerning 5,831,737 operations and 113,166 SSIs. There was a significant decrease in overall SSI rates over surveillance time, resulting in a 35% reduction at the ninth (final) included year of surveillance (RR: 0.65; 95% CI: 0.63-0.67). There were large variations across procedure-specific trends, but strong consistent decreases were observed for colorectal surgery, herniorrhaphy, caesarean section, hip prosthesis, and knee prosthesis. CONCLUSION: In this large, international cohort study, pooled SSI rates were associated with a stable and sustainable decrease after joining an SSI surveillance network; a causal relationship is possible, although unproven. There was heterogeneity in procedure-specific trends. These findings support the pivotal role of surveillance in reducing infection rates and call for widespread implementation of hospital-based SSI surveillance in high-income countries.

Comparison of epidemiological, clinical, and biological features of invasive aspergillosis in neutropenic and nonneutropenic patients: a 6-year survey.

BACKGROUND: Invasive aspergillosis is an opportunistic infection that occurs mainly among patients with prolonged neutropenia. Few data are available on invasive aspergillosis in nonneutropenic patients. METHODS: The aim of this survey was to compare neutropenic and nonneutropenic patients who had received a diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis at our institution during a 6-year period. RESULTS: Among the 88 cases of invasive aspergillosis analyzed here, 12 were histologically proven, 52 were probable, and 24 were possible. Forty-seven percent of cases were diagnosed in the intensive care unit, and 40% were diagnosed in hematology units. Neutropenia was a risk factor for 52 patients (59%), most of whom had hematological or solid malignancies. Among the 36 nonneutropenic patients (41%), the main underlying conditions were steroid-treated chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, giant-cell arteritis, and microvascular disorders; 10 patients were recipients of solid-organ transplants, and 1 patient was seropositive for human immunodeficiency virus. The distribution of proven and probable invasive aspergillosis was similar for neutropenic and nonneutropenic patients. The mortality rate was 71.5% overall and was significantly higher among nonneutropenic patients than among neutropenic patients (89% vs. 60%; P<.05). Compared with neutropenic patients, nonneutropenic patients were significantly less likely to have symptoms of invasive aspergillosis and more likely to have frequent intercurrent pneumonia due to another microorganism. The sensitivity of mycological examination of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid specimens was higher for nonneutropenic patients than for neutropenic patients (85% vs. 58%; P<.05), whereas the sensitivity of antigenemia was the same for the 2 populations (65% vs. 64%). Findings on thoracic computed tomographs were similar, except that segmental areas of consolidation occurred more frequently among neutropenic patients. CONCLUSION: This survey at a whole institution underlines the high number of cases of invasive aspergillosis among nonneutropenic patients, with an overall mortality rate that was significantly higher than that for neutropenic patients.

[Bacteriological control of food for immunocompromised host]. / Contrôle bactériologique des aliments pour immuno-déprimés.

This study concerning bacteriological controls of food for immuno-suppressive patients have shown that food sterilized in sterilizer or with pressure-cooker contains sporulated bacteria after treatment. Unit packaging or freeze-drying commercial foods offer no bacteriological quality guarantees. Clinicians have to define acceptable contamination rate according to their patients' condition.