Illness severity, comorbidities, and prior exposure to antibiotics associated with hospital-onset antimicrobial resistant infections<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter<\/b>
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MONDAY, May 5, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Hospital-onset antimicrobial-resistant infections increased across U.S. hospitals during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published online April 29 in the Annals of Internal Medicine<\/em>.<\/p>\n Christina Yek, M.D., Ph.D., from the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, and colleagues examined the incidence of antimicrobial-resistant infections in U.S. hospitals during and beyond the pandemic in a retrospective cohort study conducted in 243 U.S. hospitals.<\/p>\n The researchers found that antimicrobial-resistant infections increased from 182 to 193 per 10,000 hospitalizations during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic (6.5 percent increase). There was a 31.5 percent increase in hospital-onset antimicrobial-resistant infections, from 28.9 to 38.0 per 10,000 hospitalizations. Illness severity (intensive care unit admission, mechanical ventilation, vasopressors, COVID-19 diagnosis), comorbidities (Elixhauser Comorbidity Index), and prior exposure to antibiotics were factors associated with hospital-onset antimicrobial resistance (AMR), but no association was seen for hospital factors. As the pandemic waned, the prevalence of AMR returned to prepandemic levels (182 per 10,000 hospitalizations); however, hospital-onset AMR remained above baseline (32.3 per 10,000 hospitalizations).<\/p>\n “Antibiotic exposure in the preceding three months had incremental and sizable population-level impact on AMR increases, reinforcing the scope of this modifiable factor in potentially mitigating the ongoing crisis,” the authors write.<\/p>\n