Introduction: More than 93,000 cases of coronavirus disease have been reported worldwide. We describe the epidemiology, clinical course, and virologic characteristics of the first 12 U.S. patients with COVID-19. Methods:We collected demographic, exposure, and clinical information from 12 patients confirmed by CDC during January 20-February 5, 2020 to have COVID-19. Respiratory, stool, serum, and urine specimens were submitted for SARS-CoV-2 rRT-PCR testing, virus culture, and whole genome sequencing. Results:Among the 12 patients, median age was 53 years (range: 21-68); 8 were male, 10 had traveled to China, and two were contacts of patients in this series. Commonly reported signs and symptoms at illness onset were fever (n=7) and cough (n=8). Seven patients were hospitalized with radiographic evidence of pneumonia and demonstrated clinical or laboratory signs of worsening during the second week of illness. Three were treated with the investigational antiviral remdesivir. All patients had SARS-CoV-2 RNA detected in respiratory specimens, typically for 2-3 weeks after illness onset, with lowest rRT-PCR Ct values often detected in the first week. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected after reported symptom resolution in seven patients. SARS-CoV-2 was cultured from respiratory specimens, and SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in stool from 7/10 patients. Conclusions:In 12 patients with mild to moderately severe illness, SARS-CoV-2 RNA and viable virus were detected early, and prolonged RNA detection suggests the window for diagnosis is long. Hospitalized patients showed signs of worsening in the second week after illness onset.for use under a CC0 license.

Background Bloodstream infections (BSI) are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients. The IOAS (Improving Outcomes and Antimicrobial Stewardship) study seeks to evaluate the impact of the Accelerate PhenoTest® BC Kit (AXDX) on antimicrobial use and clinical outcomes in BSIs. Methods This multicenter, quasi-experimental study compared clinical and antimicrobial stewardship metrics, prior to and after implementation of AXDX testing, to evaluate the impact this technology has on patients with BSI. Laboratory and clinical data from hospitalized patients with BSI (excluding contaminants) were compared between two arms, one that underwent testing on AXDX (post-AXDX) and one that underwent alternative organism identification and susceptibility testing (pre-AXDX). The primary outcomes were time to optimal therapy (TTOT) within 96 hours of blood culture positivity and 30-day mortality. Results A total of 854 patients with BSI (435 pre-AXDX, 419 post-AXDX) were included. Median TTOT was 17.2 hours shorter in the post-AXDX arm (23.7 hours) compared to the pre-AXDX arm (40.9 hours; P<0.0001). Compared with pre-AXDX, median time to first antimicrobial modification (24.2 versus 13.9 hours; P<0.0001) and first antimicrobial de-escalation (36.0 versus 27.2 hours; P=0.0004) were shorter in the post-AXDX arm. Mortality (8.7% pre-AXDX versus 6.0% post-AXDX), length of stay (7.0 pre-AXDX versus 6.5 days post-AXDX), and adverse drug events were not significantly different between arms. Length of stay was shorter in the post-AXDX arm (5.4 versus 6.4 days; P=0.03) among patients with Gram-negative bacteremia. Conclusions For BSIs, use of AXDX was associated with significant decreases in TTOT, first antimicrobial modification, and time to antimicrobial de-escalation.

Objective: To examine the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on CLABSI rate and characterize the patients who developed a CLABSI. We also examined the impact of a CLABSI-reduction quality-improvement project in patients with and without COVID-19. Design: Retrospective cohort analysis. Setting: Academic 889-bed tertiary-care teaching hospital in urban Los Angeles. Patients or participants: Inpatients 18 years and older with CLABSI as defined by the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN). Intervention(s): CLABSI rate and patient characteristics were analyzed for 2 cohorts during the pandemic era (March 2020–August 2021): COVID-19 CLABSI patients and non–COVID-19 CLABSI patients, based on diagnosis of COVID-19 during admission. Secondary analyses were non–COVID-19 CLABSI rate versus a historical control period (2019), ICU CLABSI rate in COVID-19 versus non–COVID-19 patients, and CLABSI rates before and after a quality- improvement initiative. Results: The rate of COVID-19 CLABSI was significantly higher than non–COVID-19 CLABSI. We did not detect a difference between the non–COVID-19 CLABSI rate and the historical control. COVID-19 CLABSIs occurred predominantly in the ICU, and the ICU COVID-19 CLABSI rate was significantly higher than the ICU non–COVID-19 CLABSI rate. A hospital-wide quality-improvement initiative reduced the rate of non–COVID-19 CLABSI but not COVID-19 CLABSI. Conclusions: Patients hospitalized for COVID-19 have a significantly higher CLABSI rate, particularly in the ICU setting. Reasons for this increase are likely multifactorial, including both patient-specific and process-related issues. Focused quality-improvement efforts were effective in reducing CLABSI rates in non–COVID-19 patients but were less effective in COVID-19 patients.

In patients with β-lactam allergies, administration of non–β-lactam surgical prophylaxis is associated with increased risk of infection. Although many patients self-report β-lactam allergies, most are unconfirmed or mislabeled. A quality improvement process, utilizing a structured β-lactam allergy tool, was implemented to improve the utilization of preferred β-lactam surgical prophylaxis.

Healthcare personnel (HCP) with unprotected exposures to aerosol-generating procedures (AGPs) on patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are at risk of infection with severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). A retrospective review at an academic medical center demonstrated an infection rate of <1% among HCP involved in AGPs without a respirator and/or eye protection.