The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare associated infections: A teaching hospital experience

Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) is a global pandemic, with a high capability of contagious distribution, where national secondary and co-infections characterization are lacking. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on infection rates among patients admitted to the intensive care units at King Abdullah University Hospital, profiling the drug resistance rates nationally. This is a cross-sectional study of COVID-19 associated infections that was conducted at a teaching hospital, in the north of Jordan. It included all COVID-19 patients who were admitted to intensive care units during the first and second pandemic waves. Data on age, gender, length of stay, co-morbidities, co-infections and sensitivity to antibiotics were retrospectively collected from the hospital information database. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS software. A total of 589 COVID-19 patients were included, of whom 20% developed bacterial associated infections. The ratio of bacterial co-infection to secondary infections was 1:8. Gram-negative bacteria, Acinetobacter baumannii (40.1%), Eschericia coli (17.5%), Klebsiella pneumonia (6.8%), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (5.1%) were the most abundant isolated species. The detection rates of E coli (ESBL), K pneumonia (ESBL), A baumannii (CRO), P aeruginosa (CRO), S aureus (MRSA) were 52%, 67%, 97%, 44%, and 67%, respectively.

Automated summary

This study aimed to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on infection rates among ICU patients and profile the drug resistance rates nationally. It included 589 COVID-19 patients, of whom 20% developed bacterial associated infections. Gram-negative bacteria like Acinetobacter baumannii and Eschericia coli were the most common isolated species, and they exhibited high levels of antibiotic resistance.