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Link Between Secondary Bloodstream Infections and COVID-19

by Colleen Fleiss on Dec 23 2020 11:15 PM

Link Between Secondary Bloodstream Infections and COVID-19
COVID-19 patients with secondary bloodstream infections were sicker, had more extended hospital stays, and worse health outcomes, revealed a new study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.
The new study assessed //the microbiology, risk factors, and outcomes in hospitalized coronavirus positive patients with severe secondary bloodstream infections.

The researchers analyzed 375 patients diagnosed with severe COVID-19 from March to May 2020. Of that group, they sampled 128 cases that had secondary bloodstream infections, 92 percent of which were bacterial infections.

Bloodstream Infections

A bloodstream infection (BSI) is defined as one or more positive blood cultures linked to systemic signs of infection such as fevers, chills, and hypotension. They are divided into primary and secondary. Primary BSIs occur without another defined nidus of infection, whereas secondary BSIs develop from a detectable infection area. An example of such a secondary BSI is a urinary tract infection with subsequent bacteremia.

"These patients were more likely to have altered mental status, lower percent oxygen saturation, septic shock and to be admitted to the intensive care unit compared to those without bloodstream infections," said co-lead author Pinki Bhatt, an assistant professor at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School's Division of Allergy, Immunology and Infectious Disease.

COVID-19 patients who needed more advanced supplemental oxygen types upon hospital admission had increased odds of secondary bloodstream infections. The in-hospital mortality rate for COVID-19 patients was more than 50 percent.

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80% of COVID-19 patients in the study received antimicrobials, including those people who did not have bloodstream infections.

"Antimicrobial stewardship remains crucial during this unprecedented time," said co-author Navaneeth Narayanan, a clinical associate professor at Rutgers Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy. "Given the scale of the pandemic, indiscriminate antimicrobial use will inevitably lead to widespread complications such as adverse drug reactions, antimicrobial resistance and Clostridium difficile infections."

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Source-Medindia


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