For patients receiving mechanical ventilation, Acinetobacter baumannii and Candida auris are common, with an increased likelihood of colonization among those in long-term care facilities versus acute care hospitals, according to a study published online Oct. 12 in the Journal of the American Medical Association to coincide with the annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDWeek), held from Oct. 11 to 15 in Boston.
Anthony D. Harris, M.D., M.P.H., from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, and colleagues examined the prevalence of A. baumannii and C. auris among patients receiving mechanical ventilation in a statewide study involving patients admitted to 33 acute care hospitals and 18 long-term care facilities. Surveillance cultures were obtained from all patients receiving mechanical ventilation; 482 and 470 patients were screened for A. baumannii and C. auris, respectively.
The researchers found that 30.7 percent of the 482 samples grew A. baumannii, and 59.5 percent were carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii (CRAB); C. auris was identified in 6.6 percent of the 470 samples. Compared with patients in acute care hospitals, those in long-term care facilities were more likely to be colonized with A. baumannii, CRAB, and C. auris (relative risks [95 percent confidence intervals], 7.66 [5.11 to 11.50], 5.48 [3.38 to 8.91], and 1.97 [0.99 to 3.92], respectively).
“Patients receiving mechanical ventilation in long-term care facilities are a high-risk population for emerging pathogens and surveillance and prevention efforts should be targeted to these facilities,” Dr. Harris and
colleagues wrote.
