COVID-19 in the perioperative period of cardiovascular surgery: the brazilian experience

Abstract Introduction: We investigated the clinical course and outcomes of patients submitted to cardiovascular surgery in Brazil and who had developed symptoms/signs of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the perioperative period. Methods: A retrospective multicenter study including 104 patients who were allocated in three groups according to time of positive real time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for the SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2): group 1, patients who underwent cardiac surgery > 10 days after positive RT-PCR; group 2, patients with a positive RT-PCR within 10 days before or after surgery; group 3, patients who presented positive RT-PCR > 10 days after surgery. The primary outcome was mortality and secondary outcomes were postoperative complications, intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay, and postoperative days of hospitalization. Results: The three groups were similar with respect to age, the European System of Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation score, and comorbidities, except hypertension. Postoperative complications and death were significantly higher in groups 2 and 3 than in group 1, and no significant difference between groups 2 and 3 was seen. Group 2 showed a high prevalence of surgery performed as an urgent procedure. Although no significant differences were observed in ICU length of stay, total postoperative hospitalization time was significantly higher in group 3 than in groups 1 and 2. Conclusion: COVID-19 affecting the postoperative period of patients who underwent cardiovascular surgery is associated with a higher rate of morbidity and mortality. Delaying procedures in RT-PCR-positive patients may help reduce risks of perioperative complications and death.

Does the change on gastrointestinal tract microbiome affects host?

During the past decade, studies on the composition of human microbiota and its relation to the host became one of the most explored subjects of the medical literature. The development of high-throughput molecular technologies allowed a deeper characterization of human microbiota and a better understanding of its relationship with health and disease. Changes in human habits including wide use of antimicrobials can result in dysregulation of host–microbiome homeostasis, with multiple consequences. The purpose of this review is to highlight the most important evidence in the literature of host–microbiome interactions and illustrate how these intriguing relations may lead to new treatment and prevention strategies.

Preventing catheter-associated infections in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit: impact of an educational program surveying policies for insertion and care of central venous catheters in a Brazilian teaching hospital

Objectives: To determine the impact of an educational program on the prevention of central venous catheter-related infections in a Brazilian Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. Patients and Methods: All patients admitted to the unit between February 2004 and May 2005 were included in the cohort study in a longitudinal assessment. An educational program was developed based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations for prevention of catheter-associated infections and was adapted to local conditions and resources after an initial observational phase. Incidence of catheter-associated infections was measured by means of on-site surveillance. Results: One hundred eighteen nosocomial infections occurred in 253 patients (46.6 infections per 100 admissions) and in 2,954 patient-days (39.9 infections per 1,000 patient-days). The incidence-density of catheter infections was 31.1 episodes per 1.000 venous central catheter-days before interventions, and 16.5 episodes per 1,000 venous central catheter-days afterwards (relative risk 0.53 [95 percent CI 0.28-1.01]). Corresponding rates for exit-site catheter infections were 8.0 and 2.5 episodes per 1,000 venous central catheter-days [0.32 (0.07-1.49)], and the rates for bloodstream infections were 23.1 and 13.9 episodes per 1,000 venous central catheter-days, before and after interventions [0.61 (0.32-1.14)]. Conclusion: A prevention strategy targeted at the insertion and maintenance of vascular access can decrease rates of vascular-access infections in pediatric intensive care unit.

Surveillance programs for detection and characterization of emergent pathogens and antimicrobial resistance: results from the Division of Infectious Diseases, UNIFESP

Several epidemiological changes have occurred in the pattern of nosocomial and community acquired infectious diseases during the past 25 years. Social and demographic changes possibly related to this phenomenon include a rapid population growth, the increase in urban migration and movement across international borders by tourists and immigrants, alterations in the habitats of animals and arthropods that transmit disease, as well as the raise of patients with impaired host defense abilities. Continuous surveillance programs of emergent pathogens and antimicrobial resistance are warranted for detecting in real time new pathogens, as well as to characterize molecular mechanisms of resistance. In order to become more effective, surveillance programs of emergent pathogens should be organized as a multicenter laboratory network connected to the main public and private infection control centers. Microbiological data should be integrated to guide therapy, adapting therapy to local ecology and resistance patterns. This paper presents an overview of data generated by the Division of Infectious Diseases, Federal University of São Paulo, along with its participation in different surveillance programs of nosocomial and community acquired infectious diseases.

Várias alterações epidemiológicas ocorreram no perfil das doenças infecciosas hospitalares e comunitárias nos últimos 25 anos. Mudanças sociais e demográficas possivelmente relacionadas com esse fenômeno incluem o rápido crescimento populacional, o aumento da migração urbana e deslocamento através de fronteiras internacionais por turistas e imigrantes, alterações nos habitats de animais e artrópodes que transmitem doença assim como o aumento no número de pacientes com deficiências nas respostas de defesa. Os programas contínuos de vigilância de patógenos emergentes e resistência antimicrobiana são necessários para a detecção em tempo real de novos patógenos assim como para caracterizar mecanismos moleculares de resistência. Para serem mais efetivos, os programasde vigilância dos patógenos emergentes devem ser organizados em uma rede de laboratórios multicêntricos ligados aos principais centros de controle de infecções, públicos e privados. Os dados microbiológicos devem ser integrados a guias terapêuticos adaptando práticas terapêuticas à ecologia local eaos padrões de resistência. O artigo apresenta uma revisão dos dados gerados pela Disciplina de Infectologia, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, contemplando sua participação nos diferentes programas de vigilância de doenças infecciosas hospitalares e adquiridas na comunidade.

Molecular characterization of vancomycin-resistant Enterococci strains eight years apart from its first isolation in São Paulo, Brazil / Caracterização molecular de espécies de Enterococci resistentes à vancomicina oito anos após seu primeiro isolamento em São Paulo, Brasil

E. faecium was the first reported VRE species, carrying the vanA gene in Brazil. In spite of this, vancomycin-resistant E. faecalis has become the predominant species in Brazilian hospitals. The aim of this study was to evaluate the genetic relatedness of VREs isolated in a Brazilian teaching hospital eight years apart from its first isolation. We analyzed 38 VRE strains obtained from 81 surveillance cultures of patients admitted to the four largest intensive care units in Hospital São Paulo in February, 2006. Presence of the vanA gene was assayed by PCR and PFGE analysis was used for molecular characterization. All VRE strains carried the vanA gene. Two distinct clonal groups were observed among vancomycin-resistant E. faecalis. Vancomycin-resistant E. faecium belonged to five distinct clones were demonstrated by molecular typing. All of these clones were different from the first vancomycin-resistant enterococci clone isolated eight years ago in our hospital.

E. faecium contendo o gene vanA foi a primeira espécie de VRE descrita, no Brasil. Apesar disto, E. faecalis resistente a vancomicina tem se tornado a espécie predominante nos hospitais brasileiros.O objetivo desse estudo foi avaliar a relação genética de VREs isolados em um hospital de ensino brasileiro após oito anos de seu primeiro isolamento. Analisamos 37 isolados de VRE obtidos de 81 culturas de vigilância de pacientes admitidos nas quatro maiores Unidades de Tratamento Intensivo em Fevereiro de 2006. A presença do gene vanA foi analisada por PCR e a caracterização molecular por PFGE. Todas as amostras VRE carreavam o gene vanA. Entre os E. faecalis vancomicina-resistentes, dois distintos grupos clonais foram observados. E. faecium resistente a vancomicina pertencentes a cinco clones distintos foram demonstrados por tipagem molecular. Todos esses clones foram diferentes do primeiro clone de enterococo resistente a vancomicina isolado oito anos atrás em nosso hospital.

Control of multi-resistant bacteria and ventilator-associated pneumonia: is it possible with changes in antibiotics?

Potent antimicrobial agents have been developed as a response to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which especially affect patients with prolonged hospitalization in Intensive Care Units (ICU) and who had been previously treated with antimicrobials, especially third-generation cephalosporins.This study was to determine how changes in the empirical treatment of infections in ICU patients affect the incidence of Gram-negative bacteria species and their susceptibility to antimicrobials, and examine the impact of these changes on nosocomial infections. A prospective interventional study was performed in a university hospital during two periods: 1) First period (September 1999 to February 2000); and 2) Second period (August 2000 to December 2000); empirical treatment was changed from ceftriaxone and/or ceftazidime in the first period to piperacillin/tazobactam in the second. ICU epidemiological and infection control rates, as well as bacterial isolates from upper airways were analyzed. Ceftazidime consumption dropped from 34.83 to 0.85 DDD/1000 patients per day (p=0.004). Piperacillin/tazobactam was originally not available; its consumption reached 157.07 DDD/1000 patients per day in the second period (p=0.0002). Eighty-seven patients and 66 patients were evaluated for upper airway colonization in the first and second periods, respectively. There was a significant decrease in the incidence of K. pneumoniae (p=0.004) and P. mirabilis (p=0.036), restoration of K. pneumoniae susceptibility to cephalosporins (p<0.0001) and reduction of ventilator-associated pneumonia rates (p<0.0001). However, there was an increase in P. aeruginosa incidence (p=0.005) and increases in ceftazidime (p=0.003) and meropenem (p<0.0001) susceptibilities. Changing antimicrobial selective pressure on multi-resistant Gram-negative bacteria helps control ventilator-associated pneumonia and decreases antimicrobial resistance.

Compliance with handwashing at two intensive care units in São Paulo

Handwashing compliance was compared at two medical- surgical intensive care units (ICUs) of a teaching and a non-teaching hospital. The mean compliance was 22.2 percent and 42.6 percent, respectively. Respiratory therapists at the non-teaching hospital had the best handwashing compliance (52.6 percent). Nursing assistants at the teaching hospital had the worst compliance (11.5 percent). Nursing assistant was the only health-care worker category with a significant difference between the two ICUs (odds ratio = 6.0; 95 percent confidence interval = 3.83-9.43; p< 0.001).

Nosocomial infection in a pediatric intensive care unit in a developing country

OBJECTIVE: Determine the rate and outcome of nosocomial infection (NI) in pediatric intensive care unit patients in a developing country. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention definitions to diagnose nosocomial infection and NNISS (National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance System) methodology. SETTING: São Paulo Hospital - Universidade Federal de São Paulo - Brazil, a 700-bed teaching hospital with an 8-bed pediatric intensive care unit. PARTICIPANTS: All 515 children consecutively admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit from April 1996 to October 1997. RESULTS: The NI incidence was 18.3 percent and the mean infection rate per 1,000 patient days was 46.1; the ventilator-associated pneumonia rate was 18.7 per 1,000 ventilator days; the central line-associated bloodstream infection rate was 10.2 per 1,000 central line days; and the urinary tract catheter-associated infection rate was 1.8 per 1,000 catheter days. Pneumonia was the most common NI (31.6 percent), followed by bloodstream infections (17.3 percent), and surgical site infection (17.3 percent). Gram-negative bacterias were the most common pathogens identified in the NIs (54.8 percent), followed by Gram-positive bacterias (23.8 percent), and yeasts. CONCLUSION: Pneumonia was the most common type of NI. A high incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia and central line-associated bloodstream infections was found, whereas the urinary tract catheter-associated infection rate was low. Gram-negative bacterias were the most common etiologic agents identified in the unit, and yeasts were frequently found. Pediatric patients have characteristics of their own, with major differences when compared to the adult population.

Enterococcus faecalis resistant to vancomycin and teicoplanin (VanA Phenotype) isolated from a bone marrow transplanted patient in Brazil

We report for the first time in Brazil, patient from whom an Enterococcus faecalis VanA phenotype was isolated. Glycopeptide resistance is not commonly observed in Enterococcus faecalis, so this finding is of great concern since this species is responsible for 90 percent of enterococcal infections in Brazil. The isole was recovered from a surveillance rectal swab culture from a patient with acute lymphocytic (ALL). Identification to the species level was performed by conventional biomechanical tests and vitek GPI cards. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was evaluated by use of broth microdilution and Etest (AB BIODISK, Solna, Sweden) methods. The isolate was identified as E. faecalis and was considered resistant to both vancomycin(MIC,>256µg/mL) and teicoplanin (MIC, 256 µg/mL). The isolate also showed high level resistance to gentamicin and streptomycin (MICs,>1024µg/mL), but was considered susceptible to ampicillin (MIC, 4µg/mL). Although the frequency of enterococcal infections is very low in most Latin American countries, the finding of glycopeptide (VanA) resistance in E. faecalis increases concern about apreading antimicrobial resistance in this region.