Presence of symptoms 6 weeks after COVID-19 among vaccinated and unvaccinated US healthcare personnel: a prospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: Although COVID-19 vaccines offer protection against infection and severe disease, there is limited information on the effect of vaccination on prolonged symptoms following COVID-19. Our objective was to determine differences in prevalence of prolonged symptoms 6 weeks after onset of COVID-19 among healthcare personnel (HCP) by vaccination status, and to assess differences in timing of return to work. DESIGN: Cohort analysis of HCP with COVID-19 enrolled in a multicentre vaccine effectiveness study. HCP with COVID-19 between December 2020 and August 2021 were followed up 6 weeks after illness onset. SETTING: Health systems in 12 US states. PARTICIPANTS: HCP participating in a vaccine effectiveness study were eligible for inclusion if they had laboratory-confirmed symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 with mRNA vaccination (symptom onset ≥14 days after two doses) or no prior vaccination. Among 681 eligible participants, 419 (61%) completed a follow-up survey to assess symptoms reported 6 weeks after illness onset. EXPOSURES: Two doses of a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine compared with no COVID-19 vaccine. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Prevalence of symptoms 6 weeks after onset of COVID-19 illness and days to return to work. RESULTS: Among 419 HCP with COVID-19, 298 (71%) reported one or more COVID-like symptoms 6 weeks after illness onset, with a lower prevalence among vaccinated participants compared with unvaccinated participants (60.6% vs 79.1%; adjusted risk ratio 0.70, 95% CI 0.58 to 0.84). Following their illness, vaccinated HCP returned to work a median 2.0 days (95% CI 1.0 to 3.0) sooner than unvaccinated HCP (adjusted HR 1.37, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.79). CONCLUSIONS: Receipt of two doses of a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine among HCP with COVID-19 illness was associated with decreased prevalence of COVID-like symptoms at 6 weeks and earlier return to work.

Antimicrobial Therapy for Pneumonia in the Emergency Department: The Impact of Clinical Pharmacists on Appropriateness.

INTRODUCTION: Pneumonia impacts over four million people annually and is the leading cause of infectious disease-related hospitalization and mortality in the United States. Appropriate empiric antimicrobial therapy decreases hospital length of stay and improves mortality. The objective of our study was to test the hypothesis that the presence of an emergency medicine (EM) clinical pharmacist improves the timing and appropriateness of empiric antimicrobial therapy for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and healthcare-associated pneumonia (HCAP). METHODS: This was a retrospective observational cohort study of all emergency department (ED) patients presenting to a Midwest 60,000-visit academic ED from July 1, 2008, to March 1, 2016, who presented to the ED with pneumonia and received antimicrobial therapy. The treatment group consisted of patients who presented during the hours an EM pharmacist was present in the ED (Monday-Friday, 0900-1800). The control group included patients presenting during the hours when an EM clinical pharmacist was not physically present in the ED (Monday-Friday, 1800-0900, Saturday/Sunday 0000-2400 day). We defined appropriate empiric antimicrobial therapy using the Infectious Diseases Society of America consensus guidelines on the management of CAP, and management of HCAP. RESULTS: A total of 406 patients were included in the final analysis (103 treatment patients and 303 control patients). During the hours the EM pharmacist was present, patients were significantly more likely to receive appropriate empiric antimicrobial therapy (58.3% vs. 38.3%; p<0.001). Regardless of pneumonia type, patients seen while an EM pharmacist was present were significantly more likely to receive appropriate antimicrobial therapy (CAP, 77.7% vs. 52.9% p=0.008, HCAP, 47.7% vs. 28.8%, p=0.005). There were no significant differences in clinical outcomes. CONCLUSION: The presence of an EM clinical pharmacist significantly increases the likelihood of appropriate empiric antimicrobial therapy for patients presenting to the ED with pneumonia.

No Decrease in Early Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia After Early Use of Chlorhexidine.

BACKGROUND: Oral chlorhexidine prophylaxis can decrease occurrence of ventilator-associated pneumonia. However, the importance of timing has never been fully explored. OBJECTIVE: To see if early administration of oral chlorhexidine is associated with lower incidence of early ventilator-associated pneumonia (within 5 days of admission to intensive care unit) in intubated air ambulance patients. METHODS: A single-center, retrospective cohort study of intubated adults transported by a university-based air ambulance service and admitted to a surgical intensive care unit from July 2011 through April 2013. Primary exposure was time from helicopter retrieval to the first dose of oral chlorhexidine in the intensive care unit. Early chlorhexidine was defined as receipt of the drug within 6 hours of helicopter departure. The primary outcome was clinical diagnosis of early ventilator-associated pneumonia. Patients who were less than 18 years old, died within 72 hours of admission, or had pneumonia at admission were excluded. RESULTS: Among 134 patients, 49% were treated with chlorhexidine before 6 hours, 84% were treated before 12 hours, and 11% were treated for early pneumonia. Early chlorhexidine (before 6 hours; 15%) was not associated (P = .21) with early pneumonia (8%). Furthermore, median times to chlorhexidine did not differ significantly (P = .23) between patients in whom pneumonia developed (5.2 hours) and patients with no pneumonia (6.1 hours). CONCLUSIONS: Early administration of oral chlorhexidine in intubated patients was not associated with a reduction in the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia in a surgical intensive care unit with high rates of chlorhexidine administration before 12 hours.

Importance of Decision Support Implementation in Emergency Department Vancomycin Dosing.

INTRODUCTION: The emergency department (ED) plays a critical role in the management of life-threatening infection. Prior data suggest that ED vancomycin dosing is frequently inappropriate. The objective is to assess the impact of an electronic medical record (EMR) intervention designed to improve vancomycin dosing accuracy, on vancomycin dosing and clinical outcomes in critically ill ED patients. METHODS: Retrospective before-after cohort study of all patients (n=278) treated with vancomycin in a 60,000-visit Midwestern academic ED (March 2008 and April 2011) and admitted to an intensive care unit. The primary outcome was the proportion of vancomycin doses defined as "appropriate" based on recorded actual body weight. We also evaluated secondary outcomes of mortality and length of stay. RESULTS: The EMR dose calculation tool was associated with an increase in mean vancomycin dose ([14.1±5.0] vs. [16.5±5.7] mg/kg, p<0.001) and a 10.3% absolute improvement in first-dose appropriateness (34.3% vs. 24.0%, p=0.07). After controlling for age, gender, methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus infection, and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score, 28-day in-hospital mortality (odds ratio OR 1.72; 95% CI [0.76-3.88], p=0.12) was not affected. CONCLUSION: A computerized decision-support tool is associated with an increase in mean vancomycin dose in critically ill ED patients, but not with a statistically significant increase in therapeutic vancomycin doses. The impact of decision-support tools should be further explored to optimize compliance with accepted antibiotic guidelines and to potentially affect clinical outcome.

A clinical decision rule identifies risk factors associated with antimicrobial-resistant urinary pathogens in the emergency department: a retrospective validation study.

BACKGROUND: Identifying patients at high risk for multidrug-resistant urinary tract infections (UTIs) is important for guiding empirical antimicrobial therapy. Clinical risk factors associated with antimicrobial-resistant urinary pathogens and the derivation of a simple clinical decision rule could help define health care-associated UTI. OBJECTIVE: To derive a simple clinical decision rule to identify clinical risk factors associated with antimicrobial-resistant urinary pathogens. METHODS: This was a retrospective case-control study of all emergency department (ED) patients from July 1, 2011, to July 1, 2012, who presented to the ED with UTI and a positive urine culture. Candidate risk factors were collected retrospectively from medical record review. We compared differences in patient characteristics stratified by the presence of an antimicrobial-resistant urinary pathogen. RESULTS: A total of 360 patients with UTI had a positive, noncontaminated urine culture during the study period. About 6.7% of patients (n = 24) had a multidrug-resistant (MDR) urinary infection. Logistic regression modeling identified 3 clinical factors associated with the identification of a MDR pathogen: male sex, chronic hemodialysis, and nursing home residence. A scoring system was created to identify patients with MDR pathogens. Test characteristics were calculated using bootstrapping for internal validation, with a sensitivity of 74.7% (95% CI = 55.1%-91.3%) and specificity of 85.1% (95% CI = 77.8%-86.2%), positive likelihood ratio of 4.3, and a negative likelihood ratio of 0.3. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical factors can be used to identify UTI patients at high risk of MDR urinary pathogens.