Antibiotic and antimicrobial resistance

Evidence supporting the effectiveness of single-room contact precautions (SCP) in preventing in-hospital acquisition of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (haVRE) is limited.

We assessed the impact of SCP on haVRE and their transmission.

We conducted a prospective, multicentre cohort study in German haematological/oncological departments during 2016. Two sites performed SCP for VRE patients and two did not (NCP). We defined a 5% haVRE-risk difference as non-inferiority margin, screened patients for VRE, and characterised isolates by whole genome sequencing and core genome MLST (cgMLST). Potential confounders were assessed by competing risk regression analysis.

We included 1,397 patients at NCP and 1,531 patients at SCP sites. Not performing SCP was associated with a significantly higher proportion of haVRE; 12.2% (170/1,397) patients at NCP and 7.4% (113/1,531) patients at SCP sites (relative risk (RR) 1.74; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.35–2.23). The difference (4.8%) was below the non-inferiority margin. Competing risk regression analysis indicated a stronger impact of antimicrobial exposure (subdistribution hazard ratio (SHR) 7.46; 95% CI: 4.59–12.12) and underlying disease (SHR for acute leukaemia 2.34; 95% CI: 1.46–3.75) on haVRE than NCP (SHR 1.60; 95% CI: 1.14–2.25). Based on cgMLST and patient movement data, we observed 131 patient-to-patient VRE transmissions at NCP and 85 at SCP sites (RR 1.76; 95% CI: 1.33–2.34).

We show a positive impact of SCP on haVRE in a high-risk population, although the observed difference was below the pre-specified non-inferiority margin. Importantly, other factors including antimicrobial exposure seem to be more influential.

Hospital-acquired infections (HAI) caused by Enterococcus spp., especially vancomycin-resistant Enterococcusspp. (VRE), are of rising concern.

We summarised data on incidence, mortality and proportion of HAI caused by enterococci in the World Health Organization European Region.

We searched Medline and Embase for articles published between 1 January 2010 and 4 February 2020. Random-effects meta-analyses were performed to obtain pooled estimates.

We included 75 studies. Enterococcus spp. and VRE accounted for 10.9% (95% confidence interval (CI): 8.7–13.4; range: 6.1–17.5) and 1.1% (95% CI: 0.21–2.7; range: 0.39–2.0) of all pathogens isolated from patients with HAI. Hospital wide, the pooled incidence of HAI caused by Enterococcus spp. ranged between 0.7 and 24.8 cases per 1,000 patients (pooled estimate: 6.9; 95% CI: 0.76–19.0). In intensive care units (ICU), pooled incidence of HAI caused by Enterococcus spp. and VRE was 9.6 (95% CI: 6.3–13.5; range: 0.39–36.0) and 2.6 (95% CI: 0.53–5.8; range: 0–9.7). Hospital wide, the pooled vancomycin resistance proportion among Enterococcus spp. HAI isolates was 7.3% (95% CI: 1.5–16.3; range: 2.6–11.5). In ICU, this proportion was 11.5% (95% CI: 4.7–20.1; range: 0–40.0). Among patients with hospital-acquired bloodstream infections with Enterococcus spp., pooled all-cause mortality was 21.9% (95% CI: 15.7–28.9; range: 14.3–32.3); whereas all-cause mortality attributable to VRE was 33.5% (95% CI: 13.0–57.3; range: 14.3–41.3).

Infections caused by Enterococcus spp. are frequently identified among hospital patients and associated with high mortality.

While 20–80% of regular visitors to (sub)tropical regions become colonised by extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL-PE), those hospitalised abroad often also carry other multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria on return; the rates are presumed to be highest for interhospital transfers.

This observational study assessed MDR bacterial colonisation among patients transferred directly from hospitals abroad to Helsinki University Hospital. We investigated predisposing factors, clinical infections and associated fatalities.

Data were derived from screening and from diagnostic samples collected between 2010 and 2019. Risk factors of colonisation were identified by multivariable analysis. Microbiologically verified symptomatic infections and infection-related mortality were recorded during post-transfer hospitalisation.

Colonisation rates proved highest for transfers from Asia (69/96; 71.9%) and lowest for those within Europe (99/524; 18.9%). Of all 698 patients, 208 (29.8%) were colonised; among those, 163 (78.4%) carried ESBL-PE, 28 (13.5%) MDR Acinetobacter species, 25 (12.0%) meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, 25 (12.0%) vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus, 14 (6.7%) carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae, and 12 (5.8%) MDR Pseudomonas aeruginosa; 46 strains tested carbapenemase gene-positive. In multivariable analysis, geographical region, intensive care unit (ICU) treatment and antibiotic use abroad proved to be risk factors for colonisation. Clinical MDR infections, two of them fatal (1.0%), were recorded for 22 of 208 (10.6%) MDR carriers.

Colonisation by MDR bacteria was common among patients transferred from foreign hospitals. Region of hospitalisation, ICU treatment and antibiotic use were identified as predisposing factors. Within 30 days after transfer, MDR colonisation manifested as clinical infection in more than 10% of the carriers.

The contribution of healthcare-associated infections (HAI) to mortality can be estimated using statistical methods, but mortality review (MR) is better suited for routine use in clinical settings. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control recently introduced MR into its HAI surveillance.

We evaluate validity and reproducibility of three MR measures.

The on-site investigator, usually an infection prevention and control doctor, and the clinician in charge of the patient independently reviewed records of deceased patients with bloodstream infection (BSI), pneumonia, Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) or surgical site infection (SSI), and assessed the contribution to death using 3CAT: definitely/possibly/no contribution to death; WHOCAT: sole cause/part of causal sequence but not sufficient on its own/contributory cause but unrelated to condition causing death/no contribution, based on the World Health Organization’s death certificate; QUANT: Likert scale: 0 (no contribution) to 10 (definitely cause of death). Inter-rater reliability was assessed with weighted kappa (wk) and intra-cluster correlation coefficient (ICC). Reviewers rated the fit of the measures.

From 2017 to 2018, 24 hospitals (11 countries) recorded 291 cases: 87 BSI, 113 pneumonia , 71 CDI and 20 SSI. The inter-rater reliability was: 3CAT wk 0.68 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.61–0.75); WHOCAT wk 0.65 (95% CI: 0.58–0.73); QUANT ICC 0.76 (95% CI: 0.71–0.81). Inter-rater reliability ranged from 0.72 for pneumonia to 0.52 for CDI. All three measures fitted ‘reasonably’ or ‘well’ in > 88%.

Feasibility, validity and reproducibility of these MR measures was acceptable for use in HAI surveillance.

France is a low prevalence country for colistin resistance. Molecular and epidemiological events contributing to the emergence of resistance to colistin, one of the 'last-resort' antibiotics to treat multidrug-resistant Gram-negative infections, are important to investigate.

This retrospective (2014 to 2017) observational study aimed to identify risk factors associated with acquisition of colistin-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) in hospitals in Marseille, France, and to molecularly characterise clinical isolates.

To identify risk factors for CRKP, a matched-case–control (1:2) study was performed in two groups of patients with CRKP or colistin-susceptible K. pneumoniae respectively. Whole-genome-sequences (WGS) of CRKP were compared with 6,412 K. pneumoniae genomes available at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).

Multivariate analysis identified male sex and contact with a patient carrying a CRKP as significant independent factors (p < 0.05) for CRKP acquisition, but not colistin administration. WGS of nine of 14 CRKP clinical isolates belonged to the same sequence type (ST)307. These isolates were from patients who had been hospitalised in the same wards, suggesting an outbreak. Comparison of the corresponding strains’ WGS to K. pneumoniae genomes in NCBI revealed that in chromosomal genes likely playing a role in colistin resistance, a subset of five specific mutations were significantly associated with ST307 (p < 0.001).

A ST307 CRKP clone was identified in this study, with specific chromosomal mutations in genes potentially implicated in colistin resistance. ST307 might have a propensity to be or become resistant to colistin, however confirming this requires further investigations.

Mandatory reporting of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bloodstream infections (BSI) has occurred in England for over 15years. Epidemiological information is recorded, but routine collection of isolates for characterisation has not been routinely undertaken. Ongoing developments in whole-genome sequencing (WGS) have demonstrated its value in outbreak investigations and for determining the spread of antimicrobial resistance and bacterial population structure. Benefits of adding genomics to routine epidemiological MRSA surveillance are unknown.

To determine feasibility and potential utility of adding genomics to epidemiological surveillance of MRSA.

We conducted an epidemiological and genomic survey of MRSA BSI in England over a 1-year period (1 October 2012­–30 September 2013).

During the study period, 903 cases of MRSA BSI were reported; 425 isolates were available for sequencing of which, 276 (65%) were clonal complex (CC) 22. Addition of 64 MRSA genomes from published outbreak investigations showed that the study genomes could provide context for outbreak isolates and supported cluster identification. Comparison to other MRSA genome collections demonstrated variation in clonal diversity achieved through different sampling strategies and identified potentially high-risk clones e.g. USA300 and local expansion of CC5 MRSA in South West England.

We demonstrate the potential utility of combined epidemiological and genomic MRSA BSI surveillance to determine the national population structure of MRSA, contextualise previous MRSA outbreaks, and detect potentially high-risk lineages. These findings support the integration of epidemiological and genomic surveillance for MRSA BSI as a step towards a comprehensive surveillance programme in England.