Impact of postnatal age on neonatal intensive care unit bloodstream infection reporting

Viraj Ambalam; Anna C Sick-Samuels; Julia Johnson; Elizabeth Colantuoni; Avinash Gadala; Clare Rock; Aaron M Milstone; CDC Prevention Epicenter Program

doi:10.1016/j.ajic.2021.03.018

Impact of postnatal age on neonatal intensive care unit bloodstream infection reporting

Am J Infect Control. 2021 Sep;49(9):1191-1193. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2021.03.018. Epub 2021 Apr 2.

Authors

Viraj Ambalam¹, Anna C Sick-Samuels², Julia Johnson³, Elizabeth Colantuoni⁴, Avinash Gadala⁵, Clare Rock⁶, Aaron M Milstone⁷; CDC Prevention Epicenter Program

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatrics, Division of Infectious Diseases, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.
² Department of Pediatrics, Division of Infectious Diseases, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD; Department of Healthcare Epidemiology and Infection Prevention, Johns Hopkins Health System, Baltimore, MD.
³ Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.
⁴ Department of Biostatistics, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.
⁵ Department of Healthcare Epidemiology and Infection Prevention, Johns Hopkins Health System, Baltimore, MD.
⁶ Department of Healthcare Epidemiology and Infection Prevention, Johns Hopkins Health System, Baltimore, MD; Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.
⁷ Department of Pediatrics, Division of Infectious Diseases, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD; Department of Healthcare Epidemiology and Infection Prevention, Johns Hopkins Health System, Baltimore, MD. Electronic address: amilsto1@jhmi.edu.

Abstract

Due to their short- and long-term impact on patients in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), bloodstream infections are a closely monitored quality measure. NICU infection rates are risk-adjusted for birth weight, but not postnatal age. Our findings suggest that infection rates are not constant over time in neonates with long NICU lengths of stay and adjusting for postnatal age in addition to birth weight may improve unit comparisons.

Keywords: Bloodstream infections; Hospital-onset bacteremia; Neonatal intensive care unit; Public reporting; Risk adjustment.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Bacteremia* / epidemiology
Cross Infection* / epidemiology
Humans
Infant, Newborn
Intensive Care Units, Neonatal
Sepsis*

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding