Becker's Clinical Quality & Infection Control

8 INFECTION CONTROL Hospital infection rates rose and fell with COVID-19 surges in 2021: 5 findings By Mackenzie Bean H ealthcare-associated infection rates fluctuated in conjunction with COVID-19 hospitalization trends in 2021, hitting a new high in the third quarter as the delta variant swept the country, according to a study published May 20 in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology. CDC researchers analyzed HAI data hospitals reported to the agency's National Healthcare Safety Network in the first three quarters of 2021 and compared these figures to data collected during the same period in 2019. Five study findings: 1. Ventilator-associated events increased the most in 2021 of all infection types. Compared to the same periods in 2019, infection rates were 51 percent higher in the first quarter of 2021 and 60 percent higher in the third quarter, when the delta variant spurred record hospitalizations in the U.S. 2. Overall, HAI rates were lowest in the second quarter of 2021, when COVID-19 hospitalizations were down nationwide. 3. Rates of central line-associated bloodstream infections, catheter-associated urinary tract infections and antibiotic- resistant staph infections followed similar patterns as ventilator-associated events, researchers found. 4. Rates of Clostridioides difficile declined in 2021, which could be due to pandemic-related improvements in hand hygiene, personal protective equipment use and environmental cleaning, researchers said. 5. Surgical site infection rates remained steady, likely because operating room procedures were largely unchanged during the pandemic, they said. "These findings highlight the continued challenges experienced in hospital infection prevention during the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic and underscore the need to establish resilient approaches to reducing infections during times of system stress," lead author Lindsey Lastinger, an epidemiologist at the CDC, said in a news release the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America shared with Becker's. n Pandemic-era flu shot rates mirror COVID-19 vaccine polarization: Study By Nika Schoonover C oncerns and polarized views about COVID-19 vaccinations spilled over to flu vaccination rates in adults, according to a study by researchers who examined over two pandemic years on both vaccines by state. e researchers are based at the University of California-Los Angeles Health Services and published their findings June 15 in a letter to e New England Journal of Medicine. e authors say the findings warn of a declining trust in public health as eased COVID-19 measures put the population at further risk for disease threats such as the flu. ey looked at CDC data on uptake for both vaccines through January 2022. During the first pandemic year, flu vaccination rates held steady, but they fell 4.5 percentage points (from 43.7 percent to 39.2 percent) in states with below-average COVID-19 vaccination rates in the second pandemic year when vaccines were widely available and promoted. In states that had strong COVID-19 vaccine uptake, flu vaccination rates increased by an average of 3.8 percentage points (from 49.0 percent to 52.8 percent). e researchers estimated the COVID-19 vaccination rate could predict 60 percent of its flu vaccination rate. ough the authors said the findings could indicate that those who felt compelled to oppose or support COVID-19 vaccinations could affect how they viewed other types of vaccines, they note the observational study didn't directly measure people's beliefs or prove mistrust in vaccines drove down flu vaccination rates. n Image Credit: Adobe Stock

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