Abstract
BACKGROUND: Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI) are most frequently associated with patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), led to ICU hospitalization for some patients. METHODS: The study was conducted in 2020 and 2021 at a hospital in southern Poland. The Healthcare-Associated Infections Surveillance Network (HAI-Net) of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) was used for HAI diagnosis. The aim of this case-control study was to retrospectively assess the epidemiology of HAIs in ICU patients, distinguishing between COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 cases. RESULTS: The study included 416 ICU patients: 125 (30%) with COVID-19 and 291 (70%) without COVID-19, p < 0.05. The mortality rate was 80 (64%) for COVID-19 patients and 45 (16%) for non-COVID-19 patients, p < 0.001. Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia (VAP) occurred in 40 cases, with an incidence rate density of 6.3/1000 patient-days (pds): 14.1/1000 pds for COVID-19 patients vs. 3.6/1000 pds for non-COVID-19 patients. Odds Ratio (OR) was 2.297, p < 0.01. Acinetobacter baumannii was the most often isolated microorganism in VAP, with 25 cases (incidence rate 8.5%): 16 (18.2%) in COVID-19 patients vs. 9 (4.4%) in non-COVID-19 patients. OR was 4.814 (1.084-4.806), p < 0.001. CONCLUSIONS: Patients treated in the ICU for COVID-19 faced twice the risk of VAP compared to non-COVID-19 patients. The predominant microorganism in VAP cases was Acinetobacter baumannii.