Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Med.
Sec. Infectious Diseases: Pathogenesis and Therapy
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1483967
This article is part of the Research Topic Hospital Acquired Infection in Patients with Cardiovascular Diseases View all articles

The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Nosocomial Infections in the Cardiac Care Unit of a Nonepidemic Hospital in China

Provisionally accepted
Xiang Liao Xiang Liao 1Wei Wu Wei Wu 2*Lijuan Zhang Lijuan Zhang 1*Zheng Zhang Zheng Zhang 1Chengrong Zheng Chengrong Zheng 1Xincheng Qiu Xincheng Qiu 1*Chao Xin Chao Xin 1Zhitao Jin Zhitao Jin 1*
  • 1 PLA Rocket Force Characteristic Medical Center, Shengyang, China
  • 2 Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Chengdu, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: COVID-19 is generally believed to increase the risk of nosocomial infections, however, there is a gap in relevant researches on critically ill patients in cardiac care units (CCU).Method: This cross-sectional research was conducted in a tertiary-level non-epidemic hospital of Beijing, capital of china. The nosocomial infection rates of CCU were assessed prior to and during the of COVID-19 outbreak.Results: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the overall incidence of nosocomial infections decreased by 20.6percent compared with the pre -pandemic period. Specifically, the total nosocomial infection rate during the COVID-19 pandemic (P =0.04) decreased by 20.6%. Among various types of CCU-acquired nosocomial infections, the rates of pneumonia, urinary tract infection (UTI), bloodstream infection (BSI), gastrointestinal infection, and skin infection decreased by ranges from 4.7% to 100% during the COVID -19 pandemic. Meanwhile, a 1.5-percent increase in ventilator-associated events (VAEs) was observed during the COVID-19 pandemic.During the COVID -19 pandemic, stricter implementation of infection control protocols appears to reduce nosocomial infections in CCU.

    Keywords: nosocomial infections, Cardiac care units, COVID-19 pandemic, non-epidemic hospital, China

    Received: 21 Aug 2024; Accepted: 03 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Liao, Wu, Zhang, Zhang, Zheng, Qiu, Xin and Jin. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Wei Wu, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Chengdu, China
    Lijuan Zhang, PLA Rocket Force Characteristic Medical Center, Shengyang, China
    Xincheng Qiu, PLA Rocket Force Characteristic Medical Center, Shengyang, China
    Zhitao Jin, PLA Rocket Force Characteristic Medical Center, Shengyang, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.