Abstract
BACKGROUND: Studies elucidating the risk factors for nosocomial SARS-CoV-2 infections or assessing effectiveness of vaccination on acquisition prevention throughout the pandemic period are scarce. Here, we aimed to identify individual- and care-related risk factors and study the association between vaccination and risk of infection for nosocomial SARS-CoV-2 infections. METHODS: We performed a nested case-control study of patients aged ≥ 18 years hospitalised in Region Stockholm, between 1 March 2020 -15 November 2023. Each case was matched to up to 10 controls, on admission date, time period, and length of stay. Individual factors of sex, age, region of birth, education level, comorbidities and care-related factors such as number of transfers during care episode, surgery status, type of hospital unit and hospitals in the region were assessed. Vaccine effectiveness was assessed for number of doses and time since last vaccination. Conditional logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratio for risk factors and vaccine effectiveness. RESULTS: Among 2711 cases and 27,065 matched controls, older age (90 + years: 4.11 [2.71-6.23]), male sex (1.11 [1.02-1.21]) and chronic lung disease (1.25 [1.12 to 1.40]) were associated with increased odds of nosocomial infection. Among care-related factors, admission to geriatric hospital units (1.54 [1.26-1.89]) and increased number of transfers (2 + transfers: 2.48 [1.89-2.34]) were associated with higher odds. Overall, while vaccination with 2 or more doses and any time since last dose compared to being unvaccinated was associated with lower odds of infections, we observed that vaccination with 3 doses (aOR: 0.55, 95% CI: 0.46-0.67), and those with their latest dose administered within the last 3 months had the lowest odds of infection (aOR: 0.48, 95% CI: 0.39 to 0.59). CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated that vaccination is effective in reducing the risk of nosocomial SARS-CoV-2 infection, and preventive measures during early phases of pandemics should focus on high-risk patient groups. Risk of infection can be further reduced by focusing on high-risk areas within hospital settings and by reducing patient transfers during their care episode.