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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · J Lab Physicians 2023; 15(01): 131-138
DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1764476
Original Article

Bloodstream Infections with Opportunistic Pathogens in COVID-19 Era: A Real Challenge Necessitates Stringent Infection Control

Partha Guchhait 
1   Department of Microbiology, Peerless Hospitex Hospital and Research Center Ltd., Kolkata, West Bengal, India
,
Bhaskar Narayan Chaudhuri 
1   Department of Microbiology, Peerless Hospitex Hospital and Research Center Ltd., Kolkata, West Bengal, India
,
Satadal Das 
1   Department of Microbiology, Peerless Hospitex Hospital and Research Center Ltd., Kolkata, West Bengal, India
› Author Affiliations Funding This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
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Abstract

Background: Bloodstream infections (BSI) due to opportunistic microbes in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic lead to high morbidity and mortality among hospitalized patients. Thus, it is vital to find out the risk factors of BSI and to learn the ways to mitigate it.

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate important risk factors of BSI due to opportunistic pathogens and to assess the role of the rigid infection control program to deal with this issue.

Methods: A prospective, cross-sectional study was performed for 6 months on 150 patients admitted in both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 intensive care units of our hospital. BSI was confirmed by the BACTEC and Vitek 2 compact system. Prospective surveillance and environmental sampling were carried out for source tracking along with rigorous infection control measures and the outcome was analyzed.

Findings: Burkholderia cepacia, Elizabethkingia meningoseptica, Candida auris, vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus, and Achromobacter xylosoxidans were the common opportunistic pathogens isolated from a single or paired blood sample(s) in our study. Key risk factors were prolonged intensive care unit stay, central venous access, mechanical ventilation, immune-compromised condition, and use of biologics. Reverse osmosis water and used normal saline bottles were the common environmental source of infection. Following the implementation of precise infection control measures, there was a sharp decline in BSI cases, which was not attributed to the downfall of COVID-19 cases.

Conclusion: Combined prospective surveillance and environmental sampling helped to find out the sources and implementation of an intensive and insistent infection control program that are needed to control opportunistic pathogens mediated BSI.

Keywords

opportunistic pathogens - Burkholderia cepacia - Elizabethkingia meningoseptica - non-albicans Candida - bloodstream infection - infection prevention and control


Publication History

Received: 04 August 2022

Accepted: 03 January 2023

Article published online:
14 April 2023

© 2023. The Indian Association of Laboratory Physicians. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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