Risk factors for hospital-onset Clostridioides difficile infections before and during the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 pandemic.

In this retrospective cohort from 3 Missouri hospitals from January 2017 to August 2020, hospital-onset Clostridioides difficile infections were more common during the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 pandemic at the tertiary care hospital. Risk factors associated with hospital-onset C difficile infection included the year of hospitalization, age, high-risk antibiotic use, acid-reducing medications, chronic comorbidities, and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection.

Qualitative and quantitative detection of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies from dried blood spots.

INTRODUCTION: Dried blood spot (DBS) sampling is a minimally invasive method for specimen collection with potential multifaceted uses, particularly for serosurveillance of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this study, we assessed DBS as a potential specimen type for assessing IgG and total (including IgG and IgM) antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in vaccinated and naturally infected patients. METHODS: Six candidate buffers were assessed for eluting blood from DBS cards. The study utilized one hundred and five paired plasma specimens and DBS specimens from prospectively collected SARS-CoV-2 vaccinated individuals, remnants from those with PCR confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections, or remnants from those without history of infection or vaccination. All specimens were tested with the Siemens SARS-CoV-2 total assay (COV2T) or IgG assay (sCOVG). RESULTS: The lowest backgrounds were observed with water and PBS, and water was used for elution. Relative to plasma samples, DBS samples had a positive percent agreement (PPA) of 94.4% (95% CI: 94.9-100%) for COV2T and 79.2 (68.4-87.0) for sCOVG using the manufacturer's cutoff. The NPA was 100 % (87.1-100.0 and 85.13-100) for both assays. Dilution studies revealed 100% (95% CI: 90.8-100%) qualitative agreement between specimen types on the COV2T assay and 98.0% (88.0-99.9%) with the sCOVG using study defined cutoffs. CONCLUSION: DBS specimens demonstrated high PPA and NPA relative to plasma for SARS-CoV-2 serological testing. Our data support feasibility of DBS sampling for SARS-CoV-2 serological testing.

Microbiology Clinical Culture Diagnostic Yields and Antimicrobial Resistance Proportions before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic in an Indian Community Hospital and Two US Community Hospitals.

Studies comparing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on diagnostic microbiology culture yields and antimicrobial resistance proportions in low-to-middle-income and high-income countries are lacking. A retrospective study using blood, respiratory, and urine microbiology data from a community hospital in India and two community hospitals (Hospitals A and B) in St. Louis, MO, USA was performed. We compared the proportion of cultures positive for selected multi-drug-resistant organisms (MDROs) listed on the WHO's priority pathogen list both before the COVID-19 pandemic (January 2017-December 2019) and early in the COVID-19 pandemic (April 2020-October 2020). The proportion of blood cultures contaminated with coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (CONS) was significantly higher during the pandemic in all three hospitals. In the Indian hospital, the proportion of carbapenem-resistant (CR) Klebsiella pneumoniae in respiratory cultures was significantly higher during the pandemic period, as was the proportion of CR Escherichia coli in urine cultures. In the US hospitals, the proportion of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in blood cultures was significantly higher during the pandemic period in Hospital A, while no significant increase in the proportion of Gram-negative MDROs was observed. Continuity of antimicrobial stewardship activities and better infection prevention measures are critical to optimize outcomes and minimize the burden of antimicrobial resistance among COVID-19 patients.

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic: A time-series analysis.

Objective: To use interrupted time-series analyses to investigate the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). We hypothesized that the pandemic would be associated with higher rates of HAIs after adjustment for confounders. Design: We conducted a cross-sectional study of HAIs in 3 hospitals in Missouri from January 1, 2017, through August 31, 2020, using interrupted time-series analysis with 2 counterfactual scenarios. Setting: The study was conducted at 1 large quaternary-care referral hospital and 2 community hospitals. Participants: All adults ≥18 years of age hospitalized at a study hospital for ≥48 hours were included in the study. Results: In total, 254,792 admissions for ≥48 hours occurred during the study period. The average age of these patients was 57.6 (±19.0) years, and 141,107 (55.6%) were female. At hospital 1, 78 CLABSIs, 33 CAUTIs, and 88 VAEs were documented during the pandemic period. Hospital 2 had 13 CLABSIs, 6 CAUTIs, and 17 VAEs. Hospital 3 recorded 11 CLABSIs, 8 CAUTIs, and 11 VAEs. Point estimates for hypothetical excess HAIs suggested an increase in all infection types across facilities, except for CLABSIs and CAUTIs at hospital 1 under the "no pandemic" scenario. Conclusions: The COVID-19 era was associated with increases in CLABSIs, CAUTIs, and VAEs at 3 hospitals in Missouri, with variations in significance by hospital and infection type. Continued vigilance in maintaining optimal infection prevention practices to minimize HAIs is warranted.

Walk before you run: Feasibility challenges and lessons learned from the PROCLAIM study, a multicenter randomized controlled trial of misoprostol for prevention of recurrent Clostridioides difficile during COVID-19.

We analyzed our challenging experience with a randomized controlled trial of misoprostol for prevention of recurrent C. difficile. Despite careful prescreening and thoughtful protocol modifications to facilitate enrollment, we closed the study early after enrolling just 7 participants over 3 years. We share lessons learned, noting the importance of feasibility studies, inclusion of biomarker outcomes, and dissemination of such findings to inform future research design and implementation successes.