bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Assessment of Knowledge and Implementation Practices of the Ventilator-Acquired Pneumonia Bundle in a Private Hospital
Authors: Formalejo Cordella , Mantaring Dan Meynard , Abad Cybele L. , Henson Karl Evans 
Published: November 2020

Background: Ventilator-acquired pneumonia (VAP) is estimated to occur in 9%–27% of patients intubated for >48 hours, and despite advances in antibiotic therapy, it remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. Several studies have shown that a VAP bundle significantly decreases VAP rates. In 2017, VAP rates in our institution peaked at 7.92 per 1,000 ventilator days despite perceived good adherence to the bundles of care. Methods: We performed a prospective, descriptive cross-sectional study using both quantitative (eg, validated questionnaires) and qualitative methods (eg, small group discussion and direct observation of practices) to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices of infection control preventionists (ICPs) and intensive care unit (ICU) nurses regarding VAP prevention and the VAP bundle. Results: Of the 89 ICU nurses and 5 ICPs, we included 60 respondents, of whom 56 were ICU nurses, and 4 were ICPs. Median experience for nurses was 6 years (range, 0.67–16) and was 2 years (range, 2–4) for ICPs. Only 1 ICP had formal training on the VAP bundle, and only 1 ICU nurse had a master’s degree in nursing. Only 23 of 56 nurses (41%) reported that they had had formal training regarding the VAP bundle. Mean knowledge score regarding evidence-based VAP guidelines was 5 of 10 points (range, 3–8). Questions regarding mechanical ventilator operations had the lowest scores. Self-reported adherence to the VAP bundle ranged from 38.5% to 100%, with perfect compliance to head of bed elevation and poorest compliance with readiness to extubate and DVT prophylaxis. Overall VAP bundle compliance was 84.6%. Direct observation of nurses validated self-adherence to the VAP bundle and the institution’s compliance rates. Barriers to bundle adherence included lack of formal training, perceived lack of guidelines, inadequate resources, and fear of adverse events. Conclusions: Knowledge regarding specific components of VAP prevention is lacking. Compliance to the VAP bundle can be improved. Regular training, education, and direct feedback to assess the competency of both the medical and nursing staff are needed to improve adherence to the bundle, and ultimately decrease incidence of VAP in the ICU. Despite limitations, this is the first study to determine baseline knowledge, adherence, and implementation practices of key personnel directly involved with implementation of the VAP bundle.Disclosures: NoneFunding: None
Awareness of Antimicrobial Stewardship Interventions Within a Community Hospital Network
Authors: Hou Cindy , Vyas Nikunj , Kraemer Marianne , Condoluci David 
Published: November 2020

Background: A system of 3 community hospitals in New Jersey has actively engaged in antimicrobial stewardship since November 2014. Consultations with infectious diseases specialists are mandatory for patients with sepsis, severe sepsis, septic shock, patients on 3 or more antibiotics, and for those diagnosed with Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI). A multidisciplinary team meets monthly and has begun to improve the appropriateness of antibiotics use and to reduce antibiotic days of therapy per 1,000 patient days. Recently, we participated in a targeted assessment program (TAP) for CDI, and we identified areas of opportunity for antimicrobial stewardship. Methods: The TAP survey was emailed to a wide distribution of employees in the hospital, primarily nurses, physicians, and others with a variable range of experience and for those working in the intensive care units and on the wards. Ultimately, the numbers of responses were 60 in hospital A, 88 in hospital B, and 124 in hospital C. Results: In hospital A, most respondents were nurses or nurse assistants or technicians (63%), and most of the total individuals surveyed worked outside the intensive care unit setting. In hospital B, nurses or nurse assistants or technicians comprised 69% of all responses. Hospital C had the highest percentage of physicians who responded (31%). One theme for all hospitals was that a little more than half of those surveyed felt that for patients with new or recent CDI infections, antibiotics prescribed for infections were reviewed by clinicians. Less than half of respondents believed that education was being given to patients and families about the risks of CDI from antibiotics. With regard to high-risk CDI antibiotics, there was a general lack of knowledge that these were being monitored. For example, survey respondents felt that this was always monitored on clindamycin by only 33% of respondents in hospital A, 40% in hospital B, and 42% in hospital C. With regard to strategies to reduce the unnecessary use of fluoroquinolones, the response of “always” ranged from 35% to 47% of the time. Conclusions: Even though hospitals may have robust antimicrobial stewardship programs, it is important to survey frontline staff. Although all of the antimicrobial stewardship interventions, such as monitoring high-risk-CDI antibiotics, reducing high-risk CDI antibiotics, among others, are performed, there may be lack of knowledge that these initiatives are even being implemented. In this TAP against CDI, we found opportunities to share data with respondents to increase awareness of antimicrobial stewardship to further combat hospital-acquired infections.Funding: NoneDisclosures: None
Blood Culturing Practices at an Academic Medical Center
Authors: Sampathkumar Priya , Rodino Kyle , Ung Stacy (Tram) 
Published: November 2020

Background: Blood cultures are part of the evaluation of hospital patients with fever. Patients with central lines in place, frequently have blood samples for culture drawn through lines. We sought to assess blood culturing practices at our institution. Methods: Retrospective review of BCs performed in hospitalized patients over a 12-month period (August 2018–July 2019) at an academic, tertiary-care center with 1,297 licensed beds and >62,000 admissions a year. A specialized phlebotomy team is involved in all peripherally drawn blood samples; however, the patient’s nurse obtains a blood sample through a central line. Results: Overall, 35,121 blood cultures were performed for an incidence rate of 106 BC per 1,000 patient days or 566 blood cultures per 1,000 admissions. Most blood samples (67%) were collected via peripheral venipuncture. We detected significant variation in culturing rates and the proportion of blood samples obtained through central lines among collecting units (Table 1). Overall, the blood culture contamination rate was 1.6%. Blood samples obtained through a central line had a higher contamination rate (2.2%) compared to samples obtained through peripheral venipuncture (1.3%; P < .0001). Blood culture rates were highest in intensive care units (ICUs) compared with other types of patient care units (Table 1). The blood culture positivity rate was significantly lower in ICUs (8.8%) compared with hematology-oncology (10%; HR, 0.88; CI, 0.80–0.96; P = .006), general medicine (10%; HR, 0.88; CI, 0.80–0.97; P = .013), and pediatrics (12%; HR, 0.74; CI, 0.59–0.92; P = .008). The ICUs had the lowest rate of BC contamination at 1.3%. Conclusions: Blood samples obtained through central lines for culture are more likely to be contaminated than peripherally drawn blood samples. Despite a relatively high rate of line-drawn blood samples for culture, ICUs had the lowest BC contamination rate, possibly reflecting high familiarity of ICU nurses with line draws. Blood samples collected through lines were most frequently performed in pediatrics and hematology-oncology, and these units had correspondingly higher rates of contamination. This information will be used to inform institutional guidelines on blood culturing and to identify ways to minimize blood culture contamination, which often results in additional testing and/or unnecessary antimicrobial use.Funding: NoneDisclosures: Consulting fee- Merck (Priya Sampathkumar)
Bloodstream Infections Caused by S. aureus: Daptomycin Nonsusceptibility and Clinical Aspects
Authors: Nouer Simone , Fernandes Débora S. , Les Rennan , Ferreira Adriana Lucia Pires , Santos Kátia Regina Netto dos 
Published: November 2020

Background:Staphylococcus aureus is one of the leading pathogens isolated from bloodstream infections (BSIs), and vancomycin has been the main choice to treat MRSA (methicillin-resistant S. aureus) infections. Vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus (VISA) and heteroresistant-VISA (hVISA) have been described, limiting this antibiotic use. We evaluated aspects associated with the resistance and its clonality of the S. aureus isolated from BSIs, and we determined their association with clinical aspects of patients attended at Rio de Janeiro between 2016 and 2018. The detection of MRSA and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole resistant isolates was performed using the disk diffusion test, while the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were evaluated for 5 antimicrobials using the broth microdilution method. The MICs for ceftaroline and vancomycin of the MRSA isolates were determined using the E test. The presence of hVISA isolates was evaluated for isolates with vancomycin MICs of 1 and 2 μg/mL by screening on BHI agar added with vancomycin. The population profile was divided by the area under the curve (ie, PAP/AUC test). SCC mec was evaluated by PCR and the clonal profile by PFGE method. Among 123 S. aureus isolates from BSI, 31% were MRSA. MIC50 and MIC90 were daptomycin 2 and 2 μg/mL; linezolid, 1 and 1 μg/mL; oxacillin 1 and 256 μg mL; teicoplanin, 0.5 and 0.5 μg/mL and vancomycin 1 and 1 μg/ml. MIC values for ceftaroline and vancomycin were 0.75 and 2 μg/mL. The frequency of isolates not susceptible to daptomycin was 75%. The clonal lineages and SCCmec types found were USA100/ST5-II (50%), USA800/ST5-IV (22%), USA300/ST8-IV (15.8%), USA1100/ST30-IV (5.3%), BEC/ST239-III (5.3%), and 1 isolate carrying SCCmecV/ST1. We found 1 VISA isolate, and the PAP/AUC analysis detected 3 hVISA isolates that were associated with the USA100 and USA300 lineages. Overall, 85% of patients had a vascular catheter. More advanced age was associated with MRSA infection as was higher mortality. Patients with end-stage renal disease were more affected by MSSA infection. Daptomycin nonsusceptibility and VISA and hVISA phenotypes associated with prevalent clonal lineages were described. In addition, MRSA infections presented higher mortality, which emphasizes the importance of epidemiological studies.Funding: NoneDisclosures: None
Boots and Bugs: The Beginning of an Intervention for Firefighters
Authors: McGuire-Wolfe Christine 
Published: November 2020

Background: Multiple studies have demonstrated that pathogens are present in both apparatus and stations within the fire service. Pasco County Fire Rescue’s (PCFR’s) 500+ firefighters routinely wear boots to trauma scenes and into patient’s residences and then into the dormitory and living areas of the fire stations. Pasco County Fire Rescue (PCFR) recently participated in a larger effort to identify the bacteria, yeast, and mold that firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and paramedics are exposed to on apparatuses and the station living environment during a typical shift. During these efforts to swab multiple touch points within apparatus (ambulances and engines) and common areas of the stations, firefighters’ boots were identified as a significant source of bacterial contamination. Methods: Swabs of 191 surfaces in 23 vehicles and 5 fire stations were collected, including 3 swabs from the bottom of firefighter boots. Results: Firefighter boots had the highest bacterial CFUs of all locations swabbed, with >900,000 and 378,000 CFUs per boot. Disinfection with a quaternary ammonium product sprayed through an electrostatic sprayer system effectively reduced the bacterial contamination on boots. Conclusions: PCFR recognizes firefighter boots as a critical vector of contamination between the environment encountered on emergency medical calls and the fire station environment and, as a result, has started a preliminary education campaign for agency firefighters regarding the need for regular boot disinfection. These efforts include regular submissions to the biweekly employee newsletter, as well as reminders on interoffice mailing envelopes (see example below) in hopes of increasing informal, self-directed boot cleaning and disinfection efforts. The next steps include verifying the effectiveness of specific disinfectant cleaners on boots; addressing logistical and practical barriers to routine cleaning and disinfection of boots; and developing, implementing, and evaluating a protocol for regular boot cleaning and disinfection.Funding: NoneDisclosures: None
Burden and Trends of Hospital-Associated Community-Onset (HACO) Infections From Antibiotic Resistant and Nonresistant Bacteria
Authors: Olubajo Babatunde , Reddy Sujan , Wolford Hannah , Hatfield Kelly , Jernigan John , Baggs James 
Published: November 2020

Background: Studies on the effectiveness of hospital-based interventions often measure hospital-onset infections as the outcome of interest. However, hospital-associated infections may manifest after patient discharge (classified as hospital-associated community-onset, HACO), and the epidemiology may vary by antibiotic resistance (AR) profile. We examined the epidemiology and trends of HACO infections of AR and non–antibiotic-resistant (non-AR) bacteria. Methods: We included clinical community-onset (CO) cultures (obtained sooner than or on day 3 of hospitalization) yielding the bacterial species of interest among hospitalized patients in 260 hospitals in the Premier Healthcare Database from 2012 to 2017. HACO infections were defined as CO cultures in a patient who had a previous hospitalization in the same hospital within 30 days. We examined methicillin resistance among Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin resistance among Enterococcus spp (VRE), carbapenem resistance among Enterobacteriaceae (E. coli, Klebsiella spp, and Enterobacter spp) (CRE), extended-spectrum cephalosporin resistance suggestive of extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) production in Enterobacteriaceae, carbapenem resistance among Acinetobacter spp (CRAsp), and carbapenem resistance among Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CRPA). We described the proportion of CO infections that were HACO, the proportion of HACO infections from sterile sites, overall HACO rates, and annual trends for sensitive and resistant phenotypes. Generalized estimating equation regression models that accounted for hospital-level clustering were used to estimate annual trends controlling for hospital characteristics and month of discharge. Results: The rate of HACO infections by pathogen ranged from 0.78 to 38.76 per 10,000 hospitalizations; 7%–34% were sterile site infections (Table 1). For each bacterial pathogen, a significantly higher proportion of AR CO infections had a previous hospitalization compared to non-AR CO infections (all χ2, P < .05). The annual trends for AR and non-AR HACO infections between 2012 and 2017 were significantly decreasing for most pathogens, except ESBL HACO infections. Conclusions: Even when using a definition limited to readmission to the same hospital, HACO infections occur commonly with differing rates by pathogen and antibiotic resistance profile. Although these rates are decreasing for most of the pathogens studied, improving surveillance and identifying prevention strategies for these infections are necessary to further reduce the burden of hospital-associated infections.Funding: NoneDisclosures: None
Candida auris and Carbapenemase-Producing Organism Prevalence in an Extended Stay Pediatric Hospital, Chicago, Illinois, 2019
Authors: Walblay Kelly , McPherson Tristan , Roop Elissa , Soglin David , Valley Ann , Logan Latania , Vallabhaneni Snigdha , Black Stephanie , Pacilli Massimo 
Published: November 2020

Background:Candida auris and carbapenemase-producing organisms (CPO) are multidrug-resistant organisms that can colonize people for prolonged periods and can cause invasive infections and spread in healthcare settings, particularly in high-acuity long-term care facilities. Point-prevalence surveys (PPSs) conducted in long-term acute-care hospitals in the Chicago region identified median prevalence of colonization to be 31% for C. auris and 24% for CPO. Prevalence of C. auris colonization has not been described in pediatric populations in the United States, and limited data exist on CPO colonization in children outside intensive care units. The Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) conducted a PPS to assess C. auris and CPO colonization in a pediatric hospital serving high-acuity patients with extended lengths of stay (LOS). Methods: CDPH conducted a PPS in August 2019 in a pediatric hospital with extended LOS to screen for C. auris and CPO colonization. Medical devices (ie, gastrostomy tubes, tracheostomies, mechanical ventilators, and central venous catheters [CVC]) and LOS were documented. Screening specimens consisted of composite bilateral axillae and groin swabs for C. auris and rectal swabs for CPO testing. The Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene tested all specimens. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays were used to detect C. auris DNA and carbapenemase genes: blaKPC, blaNDM, blaVIM, blaOXA-48, and blaIMP (Xpert Carba-R Assay, Cepheid, Sunnyvale, CA). All axillae and groin swabs were processed by PCR and culture to identify C. auris. For CPO, culture was only performed on PCR-positive specimens. Results: Of the 29 patients hospitalized, 26 (90%) had gastrostomy tubes, 24 (83%) had tracheostomies, 20 (69%) required mechanical ventilation, and 3 (10%) had CVCs. Also, 25 (86%) were screened for C. auris and CPO; 4 (14%) lacked parental consent and were not swabbed. Two rectal specimens were unsatisfactory, producing invalid CPO test results. Median LOS was 35 days (range, 1–300 days). No patients were positive for C. auris. From CPO screening, blaOXA-48 was detected in 1 patient sample, yielding a CPO prevalence of 3.4% (1 of 29). No organism was recovered from the blaOXA-48 positive specimen. Conclusions: This is the first documented screening of C. auris colonization in a pediatric hospital with extended LOS. Despite a high prevalence of C. auris and CPOs in adult healthcare settings of similar acuity in the region, C. auris was not identified and CPOs were rare at this pediatric facility. Additional evaluations in pediatric hospitals should be conducted to further understand C. auris and CPO prevalence in this population.Funding: NoneDisclosures: None
Candidemia: Predisposing Factors, Antifungal Susceptibility, Clinical Outcome and Connotations for Management
Authors: Ahmed Abeera , Daud Nargis , Zaman Lahore Gohar , Ikram Aamer , Khadim Muhammed Tahir 
Published: November 2020

Objective: We conducted this study to investigate the epidemiology of candidemia in our setting and to quantify the risk factors associated with disease, overall outcome, and mortality associated with candidemia. Methods: In this prospective observational study, we conducted lab-based surveillance with clinical correlation of all cases of candidemia within our ICUs during the period (2016–2018). Clinical assessment was done on day 5 and day 30, and comorbidities, clinical features, and outcome were observed within 30 days after the diagnosis. The diagnosis was made on the basis of positive blood culture for Candida spp and a compatible clinical picture. The demographic characteristics, sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) scores, comorbidities, use of invasive devices, antibiotics administered were observed, and antifungal susceptibility testing was performed according to CLSI guidelines. Type and duration of antifungal administered and outcomes were noted. Results: In total, 48 episodes of candidemia, with 29 (60%) males and 19 (40%) females, were identified during the study period. C. albicans was the most common specie responsible for candidemia, causing 17 of the cases (~35%), whereas rest of the cases were caused by non–albicans spp, which included C. auris, accounting for 9 (19%) C. parapsilosis and C. tropicalis 7 (15%) each, C. glabrata and C. famata 2 (6%), and C. krusei was isolated in only 2 cases (4%). Among modifiable risk factors, CVC insertion and antibiotic exposure were the leading factors, seen in 100% of patient. Candida colonization was observed in 26 patients (28%), of whom 2 (4%) had multifocal Candida colonization. Among evaluable patients, 17 (35%) died within 30 days of the onset of candidemia. C. tropicalis was associated with the highest mortality rate, 27% (n = 4) in this cohort. Regarding the crude mortality in the different units, patients in medical ICU had the highest mortality rate (54%). In vitro activity of 3 systemically active antifungal agents was tested against 48 isolates of Candida spp. Based on CLSI break points, the susceptibility to voriconazole was 98%; only 1 isolate was resistant to voriconazole. Among candidemia-positive cases, 28 patients (58%) had taken the antifungals for >14 days, whereas 18 (37.5%) were treated for <14 days and 2 (4%) died before the initiation of therapy. Conclusions: In our study, C. albicans was the most common specie responsible for candidemia, but non–albicans spp are also emerging, with higher in vitro resistance to antifungals.Funding: NoneDisclosures: None