Transfer from High-Acuity Long-Term Care Facilities Is Associated with Carriage of Klebsiella pneumoniae Carbapenemase-Producing Enterobacteriaceae: A Multihospital Study

OBJECTIVE. To determine whether transfer from a long-term care facility (LTCF) is a risk factor for colonization with Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC)-producing Enterobacteriaceae upon acute care hospital admission. DESIGN. Microbiologic survey and nested case-control study. SETTING. Four hospitals in a metropolitan area (Chicago) with an early KPC epidemic. PATIENTS. Hospitalized adults. METHODS. Patients transferred from LTCFs were matched 1 : 1 to patients admitted from the community by age (+/- 10 years), admitting clinical service, and admission date (+/- 2 weeks). Rectal swab specimens were collected within 3 days after admission and tested for KPC-producing Enterobacteriaceae. Demographic and clinical information was extracted from medical records. RESULTS. One hundred eighty patients from LTCFs were matched to 180 community patients. KPC-producing Enterobacteriaceae colonization was detected in 15 (8.3%) of the LTCF patients and 0 (0%) of the community patients (P < .001). Prevalence of carriage differed by LTCF subtype: 2 of 135 (1.5%) patients from skilled nursing facilities without ventilator care (SNFs) were colonized upon admission, compared to 9 of 33 (27.3%) patients from skilled nursing facilities with ventilator care (VSNFs) and 4 of 12 (33.3%) patients from long-term acute care hospitals (LTACHs; P < .001). In a multivariable logistic regression model adjusted for a propensity score that predicted LTCF subtype, patients admitted from VSNFs or LTACHs had 7.0-fold greater odds of colonization (ie, odds ratio; 95% confidence interval, 1.3-42; P = .022) with KPC-producing Enterobacteriaceae than patients from an SNF. CONCLUSIONS. Patients admitted to acute care hospitals from high-acuity LTCFs (ie, VSNFs and LTACHs) were more likely to be colonized with KPC-producing Enterobacteriaceae than were patients admitted from the community. Identification of healthcare facilities with a high prevalence of colonized patients presents an opportunity for focused interventions that may aid regional control efforts. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2012;33(12):1193-1199