The impact of COVID-19 on health care-associated infections in intensive care units in low- and middle-income countries: International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) findings.

BACKGROUND: This study examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health care-associated infection (HAI) incidence in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). METHODS: Patients from 7 LMICs were followed up during hospital intensive care unit (ICU) stays from January 2019 to May 2020. HAI rates were calculated using the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) Surveillance Online System applying the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Healthcare Safety Network (CDC-NHSN) criteria. Pre-COVID-19 rates for 2019 were compared with COVID-19 era rates for 2020 for central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs), catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs), ventilator-associated events (VAEs), mortality, and length of stay (LOS). RESULTS: A total of 7,775 patients were followed up for 49,506 bed days. The 2019 to 2020 rate comparisons were 2.54 and 4.73 CLABSIs per 1,000 central line days (risk ratio [RR] = 1.85, p = .0006), 9.71 and 12.58 VAEs per 1,000 mechanical ventilator days (RR = 1.29, p = .10), and 1.64 and 1.43 CAUTIs per 1,000 urinary catheter days (RR = 1.14; p = .69). Mortality rates were 15.2% and 23.2% for 2019 and 2020 (RR = 1.42; p < .0001), respectively. Mean LOS for 2019 and 2020 were 6.02 and 7.54 days (RR = 1.21, p < .0001), respectively. DISCUSSION: This study documents an increase in HAI rates in 7 LMICs during the first 5 months of the COVID-19 pandemic and highlights the need to reprioritize and return to conventional infection prevention practices.

Predicting the environmental suitability for onchocerciasis in Africa as an aid to elimination planning.

Recent evidence suggests that, in some foci, elimination of onchocerciasis from Africa may be feasible with mass drug administration (MDA) of ivermectin. To achieve continental elimination of transmission, mapping surveys will need to be conducted across all implementation units (IUs) for which endemicity status is currently unknown. Using boosted regression tree models with optimised hyperparameter selection, we estimated environmental suitability for onchocerciasis at the 5 × 5-km resolution across Africa. In order to classify IUs that include locations that are environmentally suitable, we used receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis to identify an optimal threshold for suitability concordant with locations where onchocerciasis has been previously detected. This threshold value was then used to classify IUs (more suitable or less suitable) based on the location within the IU with the largest mean prediction. Mean estimates of environmental suitability suggest large areas across West and Central Africa, as well as focal areas of East Africa, are suitable for onchocerciasis transmission, consistent with the presence of current control and elimination of transmission efforts. The ROC analysis identified a mean environmental suitability index of 0·71 as a threshold to classify based on the location with the largest mean prediction within the IU. Of the IUs considered for mapping surveys, 50·2% exceed this threshold for suitability in at least one 5 × 5-km location. The formidable scale of data collection required to map onchocerciasis endemicity across the African continent presents an opportunity to use spatial data to identify areas likely to be suitable for onchocerciasis transmission. National onchocerciasis elimination programmes may wish to consider prioritising these IUs for mapping surveys as human resources, laboratory capacity, and programmatic schedules may constrain survey implementation, and possibly delaying MDA initiation in areas that would ultimately qualify.