Bacterial Cross-Transmission between Inanimate Surfaces and Patients in Intensive Care Units under Real-World Conditions: A Repeated Cross-Sectional Study.

Background/Objectives: Contaminated surfaces play an important role in the nosocomial infection of patients in intensive care units (ICUs). This study, conducted in two ICUs at Edouard Herriot Hospital (Lyon, France), aimed to describe rooms' microbial ecology and explore the potential link between environmental contamination and patients' colonization and/or infection. Methods: Environmental samples were realized once monthly from January 2020 to December 2021 on surfaces close to the patient (bedrails, bedside table, and dedicated stethoscope) and healthcare workers' high-touch surfaces, which were distant from the patient (computer, worktop/nurse cart, washbasin, and hydro-alcoholic solution/soap dispenser). Environmental bacteria were compared to the cultures of the patients hospitalized in the sampled room over a period of ± 10 days from the environmental sampling. Results: Overall, 137 samples were collected: 90.7% of the samples close to patients, and 87.9% of the distant ones were positives. Overall, 223 bacteria were isolated, mainly: Enterococcus faecalis (15.7%), Pantoea agglomerans (8.1%), Enterobacter cloacae/asburiae (6.3%), Bacillus cereus and other Bacillus spp (6.3%), Enterococcusfaecium (5.8%), Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (5.4%), and Acinetobacter baumannii (4.9%). Throughout the study, 142 patients were included, of which, n = 67 (47.2%) were infected or colonized by at least one bacterium. In fourteen cases, the same bacterial species were found both in environment and patient samples, with the suspicion of a cross-contamination between the patient-environment (n = 10) and environment-patient (n = 4). Conclusions: In this work, we found a high level of bacterial contamination on ICU rooms' surfaces and described several cases of potential cross-contamination between environment and patients in real-world conditions.

Baseline clinical features of COVID-19 patients, delay of hospital admission and clinical outcome: A complex relationship.

INTRODUCTION: Delay between symptom onset and access to care is essential to prevent clinical worsening for different infectious diseases. For COVID-19, this delay might be associated with the clinical prognosis, but also with the different characteristics of patients. The objective was to describe characteristics and symptoms of community-acquired (CA) COVID-19 patients at hospital admission according to the delay between symptom onset and hospital admission, and to identify determinants associated with delay of admission. METHODS: The present work was based on prospective NOSO-COR cohort data, and restricted to patients with laboratory confirmed CA SARS-CoV-2 infection admitted to Lyon hospitals between February 8 and June 30, 2020. Long delay of hospital admission was defined as ≥6 days between symptom onset and hospital admission. Determinants of the delay between symptom onset and hospital admission were identified by univariate and multiple logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Data from 827 patients were analysed. Patients with a long delay between symptom onset and hospital admission were younger (p<0.01), had higher body mass index (p<0.01), and were more frequently admitted to intensive care unit (p<0.01). Their plasma levels of C-reactive protein were also significantly higher (p<0.01). The crude in-hospital fatality rate was lower in this group (13.3% versus 27.6%), p<0.01. Multiple analysis with correction for multiple testing showed that age ≥75 years was associated with a short delay between symptom onset and hospital admission (≤5 days) (aOR: 0.47 95% CI (0.34-0.66)) and CRP>100 mg/L at admission was associated with a long delay (aOR: 1.84 95% CI (1.32-2.55)). DISCUSSION: Delay between symptom onset and hospital admission is a major issue regarding prognosis of COVID-19 but can be related to multiple factors such as individual characteristics, organization of care and severe pathogenic processes. Age seems to play a key role in the delay of access to care and the disease prognosis.

Factors associated with admission to intensive care units in COVID-19 patients in Lyon-France.

INTRODUCTION: A new respiratory virus, SARS-CoV-2, has emerged and spread worldwide since late 2019. This study aims at analysing clinical presentation on admission and the determinants associated with admission in intensive care units (ICUs) in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this prospective hospital-based study, socio-demographic, clinical and biological characteristics, on admission, of adult COVID-19 hospitalized patients presenting from the community for their first admission were prospectively collected and analysed. Characteristics of patients hospitalized in medical ward to those admitted in ICU were compared using Mann-Whitney and Chi-square or Fisher exact test when appropriate. Univariate logistic regression was first used to identify variables on admission that were associated with the outcome i.e. admission to an ICU versus total hospital stay in a medical ward. Forward selection was then applied beginning with sex, age and temperature in the multivariable logistic regression model. RESULTS: Of the 412 patients included, 325 were discharged and 87 died in hospital. Multivariable regression showed increasing odds of ICU hospitalization with temperature (OR, 1.56 [95% CI, 1.06-2.28] per degree Celsius increase), oxygen saturation <90% (OR, 12.45 [95% CI, 5.27-29.4]), abnormal lung auscultation on admission (OR, 3.58 [95% CI, 1.58-8.11]), elevated level of CRP (OR, 2.7 [95% CI, 1.29-5.66for CRP>100mg/L vs CRP<10mg/L). and monocytopenia (OR, 3.28 [95% CI, 1.4-7.68]) were also associated with increasing odds of ICU hospitalization. Older patients were less likely to be hospitalized in ICU (OR, 0.17 [95%CI, 0.05-0.51]. CONCLUSIONS: Age and delay between onset of symptoms and hospital admission were associated with the risk of hospitalisation in ICU. Age being a fixed variable, interventions that shorten this delay would improve the prognosis of Covid-19 patients.

How to save time in surveillance without losing quality: comparison of two methods of surgical site infection surveillance in orthopaedic prosthetics in a French university hospital.

Surgical site infection (SSI) surveillance methods are not standardised and are often time-consuming. We compared an active method, based on orthopaedic department staff reporting suspected SSI, with a semi-automated method, based on computerised extraction of surgical revisions, after total hip and knee arthroplasty. Both methods allowed finding the same SSI cases. We found the same sensitivity but higher specificity with a straightforward time gain using the passive method. This represents an added value for the organisation of an effective SSI surveillance, based on existing hospital databases.

Subclinical Hypothyroidism: is it Really Subclinical with Aging?

No recent study has focused on clinical features of subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH), especially in older patients. TSH measurement has remarkably evolved these last 20 years and thus reconsideration is needed. In our prospective multicenter study (2012-2014) including 807 subjects aged <60 years (<60y) and 531 subjects ≥60 years (≥60y), we have monitored 11 hypothyroidism-related clinical signs (hCS) together with TSH, FT4, FT3 and anti-thyroperoxidase antibodies values. hCS expression has been compared in patients with SCH vs euthyroidism in each age group. The number of hCS above 60y of age were found to be more elevated in the euthyroid population (1.9 vs 1.6, p<0.01) than in the SCH population (2.3 vs 2.6, p=0.41) while increase in hCS is limited to SCH subjects in the <60y group (p<0.01). The percentage of subjects with at least 3 signs increased with SCH in the <60y group (42.6% vs 25.0%, p<0.01) but not ≥60y (34.4% vs 33.9%, p=0.96). In older individuals, only three hCS could be related to both SCH and a decreased T3/T4-ratio (0.26 vs 0.27, p<0.01), suggesting either a reduced activity of TSH, or an adaptive response with aging. While hCS are clearly associated with SCH in patients <60y, they are not so informative in older subjects. TSH measurements carried out on the basis of hCS need to be interpreted with caution in aged patients. A reassessment of the TSH reference range in older patients is clearly needed and should be associated to more appropriate monitoring of thyroid dysfunction.

Variability among TSH Measurements Can Be Reduced by Combining a Glycoengineered Calibrator to Epitope-Defined Immunoassays.

OBJECTIVES: Measuring protein markers with variable glycosylation, such as thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), with high accuracy is not an easy task. Despite highly sensitive third-generation tests, discrepancies among TSH assays still remain unsolved and are the focus of important standardization efforts. Earlier work from our group showed that a lack of similarity in epitope expression between standards and samples may account for discordant hormone measurements. In this study, we aimed at producing a glycoengineered TSH with serum-type glycosylation and compared its immunological behavior to that of the international standards. STUDY DESIGN: Recombinant glycoengineered TSH (rgTSH) was produced in glycoengineered Chinese hamster ovary cells to express a highly sialylated TSH and tested in newly designed assays. Two groups of assays targeting defined epitopes were constructed and TSH levels were estimated in a panel of 84 clinical samples (2.1-22.4 mIU/l) based on the use of the current 3rd IS 81/565, the 1st IRP 94/674 and rgTSH calibrations. RESULTS: Calibration based on rgTSH was found to significantly reduce the percentage difference means of assays compared to the pituitary standard. We also found that a switch from a mIU/l (3rd IS 81/565) to ng/l (rgTSH) basis can be established within the normal as well as in the mid to upper normal range of TSH levels. Of interest, TSH assays targeting the main immunogenic region displayed variable TSH values, indicating that, in this region, epitopes should be defined for assays to deliver similar values. CONCLUSIONS: A glycoengineered TSH with serum-type glycosylation proved to be a new calibrator efficient in harmonizing TSH values.

Age Nutrition Chirugie (ANC) study: impact of a geriatric intervention on the screening and management of undernutrition in elderly patients operated on for colon cancer, a stepped wedge controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Undernutrition prior to major abdominal surgery is frequent and increases morbidity and mortality, especially in older patients. The management of undernutrition reduces postoperative complications. Nutritional management should be a priority in patient care during the preoperative period. However undernutrition is rarely detected and the guidelines are infrequently followed. Preoperative undernutrition screening should allow a better implementation of the guidelines. METHODS/DESIGN: The ANC ("Age Nutrition Chirurgie") study is an interventional, comparative, prospective, multicenter, randomized protocol based on the stepped wedge trial design. For the intervention, the surgeon will inform the patient of the establishment of a systematic preoperative geriatric assessment that will allow the preoperative diagnosis of the nutritional status and the implementation of an adjusted nutritional support in accordance with the nutritional guidelines. The primary outcome measure is to determine the impact of the geriatric intervention on the level of perioperative nutritional management, in accordance with the current European guidelines. The implementation of the intervention in the five participating centers will be rolled-out sequentially over six time periods (every six months). Investigators must recommend that all patients aged 70 years or over and who are consulting for a surgery for a colorectal cancer should consider participating in this study. DISCUSSION: The ANC study is based on an original methodology, the stepped wedge trial design, which is appropriate for evaluating the implementation of a geriatric and nutritional assessment during the perioperative period. We describe the purpose of this geriatric intervention, which is expected to apply the ESPEN and SFNEP recommendations through the establishment of an undernutrition screening and a management program for patients with cancer. This intervention should allow a decrease in patient morbidity and mortality due to undernutrition. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study is registered in ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02084524 on March 11, 2014 (retrospectively registered).