Healthcare-associated infections on the intensive care unit in 21 Brazilian hospitals during the early months of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic: An ecological study.

Objective: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused a global health crisis and may have affected healthcare-associated infection (HAI) prevention strategies. We evaluated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on HAI incidence in Brazilian intensive care units (ICUs).

Methods: In this ecological study, we compared adult patients admitted to the ICU from April through June 2020 (pandemic period) with the same period in 2019 (prepandemic period) in 21 Brazilian hospitals.