Impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in hospital-acquired infections and bacterial resistance at an oncology hospital.

Objective: Hospital-acquired infection (HAI) rates were negatively affected by the the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We describe the incidence of HAIs, main pathogens, and multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) isolated in cancer patients before and during the pandemic.

Design: This retrospective, comparative study included patients with HAIs. We compared 2 periods: the prepandemic period (2018, 2019, and the first 3 months of 2020) with the pandemic period (April-December 2020 and all of 2021).

Setting: Instituto Nacional de Cancerología, a tertiary-care oncology public hospital in Mexico City, Mexico.

Methods: Patients with the following HAIs were included: nosocomial pneumonia, ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), secondary bloodstream infection (BSI), central-line-associated bloodstream infection (CLBSI), and infection (CDI). Demographic data, clinical characteristics, pathogens isolated, and MDRO data were included.

Results: We identified 639 HAIs: 381 (7.95 per 100 hospital discharges) in the prepandemic period and 258 (7.17 per 100 hospital discharges) in the pandemic period. Hematologic malignancy was documented in 263 (44.3%) patients; 251 (39.2%) were in cancer progression or relapse. Nosocomial pneumonia was more frequent during the pandemic period (40.3% vs 32.3%; = .04). Total episodes of VAP were not different between the 2 periods (28.1% vs 22.1%; = .08), but during the pandemic period, the VAP rate was higher among COVID-19 patients than non-COVID-19 patients (72.2% vs 8.8%; < .001). , and bacteremia cases were more frequent in the pandemic period. Extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBL)- was the only MDRO that occurred more frequently during the pandemic period.

Conclusions: In cancer patients, nosocomial pneumonia was more frequent during the pandemic period. We did not observe a significant impact on other HAIs. MDROs did not significantly increase during the pandemic.