Impact of COVID-19 on healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial use in Italy, 2022.

Background: It is unknown whether COVID-19 patients are at higher risk due to demographic and clinical characteristics associated with higher COVID-19 infection risk and severity of infection, or due to the disease and its management.

Aim: To assess the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare-associated infection (HAI) transmission and antimicrobial use (AMU) prevalence during the later stages of the pandemic.

Methods: A point-prevalence survey (PPS) was conducted among 325 acute care hospitals of 19 out of 21 Regions of Italy, during November 2022. Non-COVID-19 patients were matched to COVID-19 patients according to age, sex, and severity of underlying conditions. HAI and AMU prevalence were calculated as the percentage of patients with at least one HAI or prescribed at least one antimicrobial over all included patients, respectively.

Findings: In total, 60,403 patients were included, 1897 (3.14%) of which were classified as COVID-19 patients. Crude HAI prevalence was significantly higher among COVID-19 patients compared to non-COVID-19 patients (9.54% vs 8.01%; prevalence rate ratio (PRR): 1.19; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.04-1.38; P < 0.05), and remained higher in the matched sample; however, statistical significance was not maintained (odds ratio (OR): 1.25; 95% CI: 0.99-1.59; P = 0.067). AMU prevalence was significantly higher among COVID-19 patients prior to matching (46.39% vs 41.52%; PRR: 1.21; 95% CI: 1.11-1.32; P < 0.001), and significantly lower after matching (OR: 0.77; 95% CI: 0.66-0.89; P < 0.001).

Conclusion: COVID-19 patients could be at higher HAI risk due to underlying clinical conditions and the intensity of healthcare needs. Further efforts should be dedicated to antimicrobial stewardship among COVID-19 patients.