Infection control interventions affected by resource shortages: impact on the incidence of bacteremias caused by carbapenem-resistant pathogens.

We evaluated an infection control (IC) program influenced by personnel and material resource shortages on the incidence of bloodstream infections (BSI) due to carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP), Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CRPA) in an endemic region. Between January 2010 and December 2015, all BSI episodes caused by CRKP, CRAB, and CRPA were recorded. An IC bundle was implemented in January 2012. We evaluated the effect of the interventions on BSI rates between the pre-intervention (2010-2011) and intervention (2012-2013) periods, using an interrupted time-series model. From 2014, when interventions were still applied, BSI incidence was gradually increased. For this reason, we evaluated with a linear mixed effects model several factors possibly contributing to this increase for the years 2012-2015, which was considered as the intervention/follow-up period. During the study period, 351 patients with BSI were recorded, with a total of 538 episodes; the majority (83.6%) occurred in the intensive care unit (ICU). The BSI incidence rate per year during 2010-2015 for ICU patients was 21.03/19.63/17.32/14.45/22.85/25.02 per 1000 patient-days, respectively, with the reduction in BSI levels after the start of intervention marginal (p = 0.054). During the follow-up period (2014-2015), the most influential factors for the increased BSI incidence were the reduced participation in educational courses and compliance with hand hygiene. The implementation of IC interventions reduced the BSI incidence rates, particularly for ICU patients. However, factors possibly related to the restrictions of human and material resources apparently contributed to the observed expansion of BSI in our endemic setting.

Impact of bloodstream infections caused by carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative pathogens on ICU costs, mortality and length of stay.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to estimate the impact of bloodstream infections (BSIs) caused by carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative (CRGN) pathogens on hospital costs, mortality and length of stay (LOS). METHODS: All patients hospitalized for ≥3 days in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a tertiary-care general hospital from 1/1/2015 to 31/12/2017 were included in the study. A retrospective case-control study was performed in order to examine the difference in medical, pharmaceutical and operating costs, LOS and in-hospital mortality between patients with BSI caused by CRGN/without BSI (cases/controls, respectively). The statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS software (v23.0). RESULTS: A total of 419 patients (67.5% males, median age 60.0 years) were included in the analysis (142 cases/277 controls); 10 patients with non-CRGN BSIs were excluded. Overall mortality was 33.7% (49.3/25.6% in cases/controls). The median LOS and total cost were 30.0 vs. 12.0 days and 20 359.1 vs. 8,509.3 €, respectively, between patients with/without CRGN BSIs. After adjusting for baseline demographics, underlying disease severity and patients' specialties, CRGN BSIs remained a significant factor in mortality (odds ratio 2.9; 95% confidence interval 1.8-4.8; p <0.001). Additionally, CRGN BSIs seem to result in significantly prolonged LOS and extra cost per infected patient (p <0.001). CONCLUSIONS: ICU patients with CRGN BSI are at increased risk for mortality and prolonged hospitalization and incur higher costs, imposing a heavy burden on healthcare system. Infection control strategies, considering also the cost-efficacy of interventions, are crucial in order to control the expansion of CRGN infections.