12 julio, 2022

COVID-19 Impact on Healthcare Facilities & Community Settings

U.S. healthcare facilities saw more healthcare-associated, antimicrobial-resistant infections, especially in hospitals. Hospitals treated sicker patients who required more frequent and longer use of medical devices like catheters and ventilators. Hospitals also experienced personal protective equipment supply challenges, staffing shortages, and longer patient visits.

Resistant hospital-onset infections and deaths both increased at least 15% from 2019 to 2020 among seven pathogens.
A 2021 CDC analysis reported that, after years of steady reductions in healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), U.S. hospitals saw significantly higher rates for four out of six types of HAIs in 2020. Many of these HAIs are resistant to antibiotics.
Antifungal-resistant threats rose in 2020, too, including Candida auris—which increased 60% overall—and Candida species (excluding Candida auris), with a 26% increase in infections in hospitals.

In communities, CDC has limited data for the spread of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens, like drug-resistant gonorrhea and foodborne germs.

Public health personnel nationwide were diverted to the pandemic response and people (potential patients) had reduced access to care and testing services.
Many clinics and healthcare facilities limited services, served fewer patients, or closed their doors entirely in the face of challenges from COVID-19.
Before the pandemic, CDC data showed many resistant infections often found in the community were increasing (2012-2017). CDC is concerned that resistant infections continued to spread in communities undetected and untreated in 2020.

Many of the nation’s efforts to combat antimicrobial resistance also helped prevent the spread of COVID-19.This includes CDC investments in infection prevention and control, training, surveillance, and public health personnel, such as:

Providing COVID-19 testing and identifying antimicrobial-resistant outbreaks through CDC’s Antimicrobial Resistance Laboratory Network (AR Lab Network) in 50 states and several cities/territories
Supporting experts in infection prevention and control, including healthcare training programs like Project Firstline to help stop the spread of pathogens
Developing and implementing antibiotic use tools for frontline workers
Working with partners and supporting projects to improve clinical and public health outcomes and control emerging infectious disease threats, such as antimicrobial resistance and COVID-19

Find more CDC-led antimicrobial resistance and COVID-19 public health activities [PDF – 2 pages].