Nosocomial infections during the COVID-19 outbreak. Observational study in an Italian ICU.Infections are common among ICU patients.The purpose of this study is to examine the incidence of nosocomial infections among patients admitted to the ICU with SARS-CoV-2 infection.A prospective observational study in adults with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection requiring intensive care unit (ICU) admission was performed. From May 2020 to October 2021, a total of 109 admitted patients were included.The incidence rate of new infections was 39.4%. The main infections observed were multidrug-resistant germs infections (39.5%), catheter-related blood infections(24.4%), pneumonia (VAP)(18.6%), and urinary tract infections (17.4%). The overall mortality rate was 32.1% (n= 35) and was significantly higher in patients who had a new infection during hospitalization (n= 26/43, 60.4%) than in patients who did not have a new infection (n= 9/66, 13.6%) (RR = 4.43; 95% CI = 2.31-8.52; p.001).Our data suggest that secondary infections are associated with a longer duration of mechanical ventilation and hospital stay and may negatively impact patient survival. However, larger studies are needed.
