What to know
- Presentation Day/Time: Thursday, April 24, 1:25–1:45 pm
- Presenter: Mohsin Ali, MD, MPhil, EIS officer assigned to the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion
What did we do?
- Carbapenemase-producing organisms (CPOs) are highly resistant bacteria associated with significant illness and death, and they are rarely identified in children. We aimed to characterize consultations for CPO investigations involving pediatric patients within U.S. healthcare settings.
What did we find?
- Of 2338 consultations, our key-word search identified 271 possible pediatric consultations, of which 36 met our pediatric CPO investigation criteria across 20 states.
- Fifteen consultations occurred in 2023, compared to 0–5 consultations in prior years.
- Pediatric patients were inpatients in 35 consultations, of which 30 involved a high-risk inpatient unit (e.g., intensive care, transplant, burn unit).
- In 15 consultations, the index patient had international healthcare or travel history.
- Sixteen consultations were for a CPO in a single patient and 20 were for clusters. Among clusters with available information, the most common suspected source(s) of transmission were gaps in infection control practices (e.g., environmental disinfection) and sink drain reservoirs.
Why does it matter?
- The apparent rise in consultations in 2023 may indicate spread of CPOs among pediatric settings and populations and warrants further epidemiologic investigation.
- Improved uptake of recommendations to perform admission screening for patients recently hospitalized internationally may help limit the spread of CPOs in pediatric healthcare facilities.
***This presentation has updated data that will be shared at the EIS Conference.
Abstract Category: Antibiotic Resistance, Healthcare-Associated Infections