[Nosocomial infections during the COVID-19 outbreak. Observational study in an Italian ICU]

Introduction. Infections are common among ICU patients. Aim. The pur- pose of this study is to examine the incidence of nosoco- mial infections among patients admitted to the ICU with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods. A prospective observatio- nal study in adults with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection requiring intensive care unit (ICU) admission was performed. From May 2020 to October 2021, a total of 109 admitted patients were included. Results. The incidence rate of new infections was 39.4%. The main infections observed were multidrug-resistant germs infections (39.5%), catheter-rela- ted blood infections(24.4%), pneumonia (VAP)(18.6%), and urinary tract infections (17.4%). The overall mortality rate was 32.1% (n= 35) and was significantly higher in patients who had a new infection during hospitalization (n= 26/43, 60.4%) than in patients who did not have a new infection (n= 9/66, 13.6%) (RR = 4.43; 95% CI = 2.31-8.52; p <.001). Conclusions. Our data suggest that secondary infections are associated with a longer duration of mechanical ventilation and hospital stay and may negatively impact patient survi- val. However, larger studies are needed