SHEA Spring Conference

Monika Pogorzelska-Maziarz, epidemiologist, health services researcher, and associate professor at Thomas Jefferson University, shares insights on COVID-19's influence in acute care hospitals at this year’s Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) conference.

The streptococcal pneumoniae urine antigen (SPUA) test was studied over the course of a year to determine if it provided any benefits in terms of diagnostic capability or aided in reducing empirical antibiotic use.

A study presented at the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) conference assesses the link between antibiotic use and C difficile infection in Tennessee.

The results were presented at the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) conference, highlighting this first documented case of C auris moving from an adult to a pediatric unit within the state.

A study, presented at the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) conference, assesses laxative administration before CDI testing in Veteran Affairs (VA) hospitals and explores the demographic and contextual factors with non-adherence to guidelines.

These study findings suggest COVID-19 admission testing may not be necessary in hospitals, as most asymptomatic COVID-19 patients were not infectious.

With limited amounts of antibacterials, prescribers are presented with optimal therapy challenges as well as difficulties in trying to achieve stewardship.

Reducing unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions for viral upper respiratory tract infections is crucial to stop the spread of antimicrobial resistance.

2 CDI recurrences occurred in this study, both in placebo recipients who were immunocompromised.

The Veterans Administration reported a reduction in the bacterial infection in healthcare settings where infection prevention practices were continued.

This study implemented an Electronic Health Record in a major hospital system to catch otherwise undetected C diff infections.

The epidemiology society worked with a few medical organizations to update the guidance to limit infections.

Antimicrobial stewardship efforts, such as education for healthcare providers, significantly decreased community-acquired pneumonia antibiotic prescriptions in COVID-19 patients.

Concomitant antibiotic (CA) use for infection treatment is a major risk factor for recurrent C difficile infection. One SHEA 2022 study examined whether fidaxomicin or vancomycin would be more beneficial for CA patients.

A study presented at the SHEA 2022 conference determined how common and severe breakthrough infections were for Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Janssen COVID-19 vaccine recipients.

A survey’s results show updating programs is largely dependent on resources and dedicated personnel.

An examination of COVID-19 infections by occupation found that most cases occurred in people who worked in management and healthcare, and COVID-19 death rates were highest among building/grounds cleaning and maintenance employees.

A study found that hospital providers who prescribe unnecessarily high rates of antibiotics are likely to continue doing so over time.

A large veterans health administration study estimated antibiotic use during the last 6 months of life for patients under hospice or palliative care.

The risk of a community-acquired C difficile infection was 7-fold higher for outpatients with antibiotic exposure.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, use of community-acquired pneumonia antibiotics increased significantly, while relative utilization of carbapenems decreased.

Results from the study data reinforce the need to adhere to public health measures by people who have been vaccinated.

While RT-PCR testing is difficult for confirming a reinfection with the virus, whole genome sequencing may be a more reliable measure.

Antimicrobials were commonly prescribed during the first wave of the pandemic, and clinicians were successfully guided by antimicrobial stewardship programs.

Increased facility-level vaccine coverage amongst residents and staff was associated with lower cases in the latter population.

More than half of urine cultures were found to be contaminated and 1 in 5 of the patients were prescribed an antibiotic.

Social identity plays an important role in how antimicrobial stewards see their roles and influences how they communicated with prescribers.

An intervention involving improved communication and antibiotic timeouts in nursing homes reduced the days of antibiotic therapy, according to a recent study.

The aggregated average HAI rates before and after discontinuing contact precautions were 0.14 and 0.15 MRSA HAI/1000 patient days, 0.06 and 0.04 VRE HAI/1000 patient days, and 0.04 and 0.03 MRSA LabID events/100 admissions.

The rate of health care-associated influenza cases per season decreased from a median of 16.8 cases pre-policy rollout to 5.2 cases post-policy rollout at a large pediatric hospital.