Increase of blood culture contamination during COVID-19 pandemic. A retrospective descriptive study.
Am J Infect Control
; 49(11): 1359-1361, 2021 11.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1372867
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Secondary bacterial infection during the care of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients poses risks to the patients, but there are concerns of an increase in blood culture contamination.METHODS:
A retrospective comparative study was conducted from April 1 to December 31, 2020, when the patients with COVID-19 were taken care of (pandemic period, PP), and it was compared with the same period in 2019 (pre-pandemic period, pre-PP).RESULTS:
A total of 346 patients with COVID-19 were hospitalized during the study period in 2020. A total of 1,040 and 918 blood cultures were taken during PPP and PP respectively. 38 and 56 contaminations occurred during pre-PP and PP respectively (3.7% [95% CI 2.6%-5.0%], vs 6.1% [95% CI 4.6%-7.8%], Pâ¯=â¯.015). For the ICU, 10 and 32 contaminations occurred during the same periods (5.0% [95% CI 2.4%-9.0%], vs 12.5% [95% CI 8.7%-17.1%], Pâ¯=â¯.0097). True bacteremia in the ICU per patient-day also increased during the PP.CONCLUSIONS:
We found a significant increase in blood culture contamination during the COVID-19 pandemic in the ICU setting, while true bacteremia also increased. A safe and effective way to obtain blood cultures from patients with COVID-19 should be sought.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pandemics
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Am J Infect Control
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
J.ajic.2021.08.025
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