Burden of COVID-19 on workers in hospital settings: The French situation during the first wave of the pandemic.

We launched a survey in April 2020 to assess the number and proportion of hospital workers infected during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in France, and to assess the attributable mortality. All French hospital settings (HS) were invited to declare new cases and attributable deaths by occupation category each week. Between March 1 and June 28, 2020, participating HS accounted for 69.5% of the total number of HS workers in France, and declared 31,088 infected workers; 16 died from the infection. We estimated that 3.43% (95% CI: 3.42-3.45) of French workers in HS, and 3.97% (95% CI: 3.95-3.99) of healthcare workers were infected during the first wave. Workers in regions with a cumulative rate of hospitalized COVID-19 patients equal or above the national rate, HS other than tertiary hospitals, or occupations with frequent patient contacts were particularly impacted. Targeted prevention campaigns should be elaborated.

Patterns of antibiotic use in hospital-acquired infections.

BACKGROUND: Monitoring the use of antimicrobials in hospitalized patients is critical owing to the risk of resistance selection. This study aimed to describe the patterns of antimicrobial prescription for the most frequent healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) in France, relating drugs and microbiological data. METHODS: We used data from the 2017 point-prevalence survey of HAI and antimicrobial use in France, a large nationally representative sample survey of inpatients. We sought unambiguous correspondence between individual indications of antibiotic regimen and HAI sites to determine which molecules were directed towards which pathogen, considering its resistance profile. RESULTS: Among 75,698 adult patients from 401 hospitals, 5.1% had an active HAI and 4.3% were being treated for an HAI. The two most frequent antibiotic indications were lower respiratory tract (LRTI, 27.7%) and urinary tract infections (UTI, 18.4%). For LRTI, the most prescribed antibiotic was amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (27.6%) and most frequently isolated pathogens (each accounting for around 17% of isolates) were Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli. Meticillin-resistant S. aureus LRTI was more likely to be treated with linezolid. For UTI, ofloxacin, ceftriaxone, amoxicillin/co-amoxiclav were most-prescribed (∼13% each) and E. coli predominantly isolated (52.0%). Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing E. coli UTI were more likely treated by fosfomycin, pivmecillinam or ertapenem. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides a baseline of antimicrobial use in relation to microbiological information in patients with the most common HAIs. These results can serve to direct future efforts in antimicrobial stewardship. Our work could be extended to a broader population, notably in Europe where similar surveys have been conducted.

Emerging extensively drug-resistant bacteria (eXDR) in France in 2018.

OBJECTIVE: This 2018 report of Healthcare-Associated Infections Early Warning and Response System (HAI-EWRS) notifications of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) or glycopeptide-resistant Enterococcus faecium (GRE), and of strains analysed by the National Reference Center for anti-microbial resistance (NRC) aimed to describe the epidemiology of emerging extensively drug-resistant bacteria (eXDR) in France and control measures implemented in hospital settings. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All HAI-EWRS notifications of eXDR received at the national level and all eXDR strains received at the NRC between January 1, 2018 and January 31, 2018 were analysed. Variables analysed were number of cases, number of strains, resistance mechanism, sample type, link with a foreign country, and control measures implemented. RESULTS: In 2018, 1704 CPE notifications and 315 GRE notifications were reported in France, with an increasing trend since 2012 (×6 for CPE, ×3 for GRE), from respectively 364 and 155 hospitals (+66% for CPE, +57% for GRE since 2012). eXDR strains were mainly isolated from rectal screening swabs. Notifications with patients receiving standard precautions were more often associated with outbreaks than notifications with patients receiving contact precautions at admission. NRC received 2674 CPE strains and 775 GRE strains in 2018 (×8.3 and ×2.8 compared with 2012). CONCLUSION: The increasing annual number of eXDR notifications and eXDR strains received by the NRC is multifactorial but reflects a worrying spread of eXDR in France. The number of infections remains low, but this article shows that existing recommendations are not fully implemented.

Emergence of plasmid-mediated colistin resistance (mcr-1) among Enterobacteriaceae strains: Laboratory detection of resistance and measures to control its dissemination.

The increasing use of colistin has contributed to the emergence of resistant bacteria and to an increase in the frequency of infections caused by naturally resistant Enterobacteriaceae strains such as Proteus, Providencia, Morganella, and Serratia. In August 2016, the French High Council for Public Health (French acronym HCSP) received a request from the Ministry of Health on the advice of the French National Public Health agency (Santé publique France) with regard to measures that should be taken to tackle the emergence of plasmid-mediated colistin resistance among Enterobacteriaceae strains. French healthcare facilities were asked to take the necessary measures as soon as possible, such as updating the definition of emerging highly resistant bacteria and defining the identification methods so as to take account of the evolving epidemiology of this type of resistance. This article describes the epidemiological context of the discovery of this emergence in France and worldwide, the resistance mechanisms, the microbiological methods of routine laboratory detection and the level of hygiene measures to implement in French facilities.