Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at risk of COVID-19 due to high levels of SARS-CoV-2 exposure. Thus, effective vaccines are needed. We performed a systematic literature review and meta-analysis on COVID-19 short-term vaccine effectiveness among HCWs.

We searched PubMed, CINAHL, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Scopus, and Web of Science from December 2019 to June 11, 2021, for studies evaluating vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic COVID-19 among HCWs. To meta-analyze the extracted data, we calculated the pooled diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) for COVID-19 between vaccinated and unvaccinated HCWs. Vaccine effectiveness was estimated as 100% × (1 − DOR). We also performed a stratified analysis for vaccine effectiveness by vaccination status: 1 dose and 2 doses of the vaccine.

We included 13 studies, including 173,742 HCWs evaluated for vaccine effectiveness in the meta-analysis. The vast majority (99.9%) of HCWs were vaccinated with the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA vaccine. The pooled DOR for symptomatic COVID-19 among vaccinated HCWs was 0.072 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.028–0.184) with an estimated vaccine effectiveness of 92.8% (95% CI, 81.6%–97.2%). In stratified analyses, the estimated vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic COVID-19 among HCWs who had received 1 dose of vaccine was 82.1% (95% CI, 46.1%–94.1%) and the vaccine effectiveness among HCWs who had received 2 doses was 93.5% (95% CI, 82.5%–97.6%).

The COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are highly effective against symptomatic COVID-19, even with 1 dose. More observational studies are needed to evaluate the vaccine effectiveness of other COVID-19 vaccines, COVID-19 breakthrough after vaccination, and vaccine efficacy against new variants.

We evaluated the impact of an asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) assessment protocol on the number of antibiotics prescribed for ASB after discharge from the emergency department (ED).

Single-center, before-and-after, retrospective cohort study.

The study was conducted at a large community health system in North Carolina.

Eligible patients were discharged from an ED without an antibiotic prescription and had a positive urine culture result after discharge from May through July 2021 (preimplementation group) and October through December 2021 (postimplementation group).

Patient records were reviewed to determine the number of antibiotic prescriptions for ASB on follow-up call before and after implementation of an ASB assessment protocol. Secondary outcomes included 30-day admissions, 30-day ED visits, 30-day UTI-related encounters, and projected antibiotic days of therapy.

The study included 263 patients: 147 in the preimplementation group and 116 in the postimplementation group). There were significantly fewer antibiotic prescriptions for ASB in the postimplementation group (50% vs 8%; P < .0001). There were no differences in the incidence of 30-day admissions (7% vs 8%; P = .9761), 30-day ED visits (14% vs 16%; P = .7805), or 30-day UTI-related encounters (0% vs 0%, NA).

Implementation of an ASB assessment protocol for patients discharged from the ED significantly reduced the number of antibiotic prescriptions for ASB on follow-up call without an increase in 30-day admissions, ED visits, or UTI-related encounters.

We characterized antibiotic prescribing patterns and management practices among recurrent urinary tract infection (rUTI) patients, and we identified factors associated with lack of guideline adherence to antibiotic choice, duration of treatment, and urine cultures obtained. We hypothesized that prior resistance to nitrofurantoin or trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX), shorter intervals between rUTIs, and more frequent rUTIs would be associated with fluoroquinolone or β-lactam prescribing, or longer duration of therapy.

This study was a retrospective database study of adult women with International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) cystitis codes meeting American Urological Association rUTI criteria at outpatient clinics within our academic medical center between 2016 and 2018. We excluded patients with ICD-10 codes indicative of complicated UTI or pyelonephritis. Generalized estimating equations were used for risk-factor analysis.

Among 214 patients with 566 visits, 61.5% of prescriptions comprised first-line agents of nitrofurantoin (39.7%) and TMP-SMX (21.5%), followed by second-line choices of fluoroquinolones (27.2%) and β-lactams (11%). Most fluoroquinolone prescriptions (86.7%), TMP-SMX prescriptions (72.2%), and nitrofurantoin prescriptions (60.2%) exceeded the guideline-recommended duration. Approximately half of visits lacked a urine culture. Receiving care through urology via telephone was associated with receiving a β-lactam (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 6.34; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.58–15.56) or fluoroquinolone (OR, 2.28; 95% CI, 1.07–4.86). Having >2 rUTIs during the study period and seeking care from a urology practice (RR, 1.28, 95% CI, 1.15–1.44) were associated with longer antibiotic duration.

We found low guideline concordance for antibiotic choice, duration of therapy and cultures obtained among rUTI patients. These factors represent new targets for outpatient antibiotic stewardship interventions.

To design and implement “handshake rounds” as an antibiotic stewardship intervention to reduce inpatient intravenous (IV) antibiotic use in patients with hematologic malignancies.

Quasi-experimental analysis of antibiotic use (AU) and secondary outcomes before and and after handshake rounds were implemented.

Quaternary-care, academic medical center.

Hospitalized adults with hematologic malignancies receiving IV antibiotics.

We performed a retrospective review of a preintervention cohort prior to the intervention. A multidisciplinary team developed criteria for de-escalation of antibiotics, logistics of handshake rounds, and outcome metrics. Eligible patients were discussed during scheduled handshake rounds between a hematology–oncology pharmacist and transplant–infectious diseases (TID) physician. Prospective data were collected over 30 days in the postintervention cohort. Due to small sample size, 2:1 matching was used to compare pre- to and postintervention AU. Total AU in days of therapy per 1,000 patient days (DOT/1,000 PD) was reported. Mean AU per patient was analyzed using Wilcoxon rank-sum test. A descriptive analysis of secondary outcomes of pre- and postintervention cohorts was performed.

Total AU was substantially lower after the intervention, with 517 DOT/1,000 PD compared to 865 DOT/1,000 PD before the intervention. There was no statistically significant difference in the mean AU per patient between the 2 cohorts. There was a lower rate of 30-day mortality in the postintervention cohort and rates of ICU admissions were similar.

Conducting handshake rounds is a safe and effective way to implement an antibiotic stewardship intervention among high-risk patient population such as those with hematologic malignancies.

Effect of social determinants on antibiotic prescribing rates is poorly studied in modern literature. The objective of this study was to explore the effect of the prevalence of poverty (annual household income <$24,999) in each state on antibiotic prescribing rates in outpatient settings per 1,000 population through chronic health conditions (ie, prevalence of obesity, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) while also adjusting for confounders (ie, prevalence of population aged ≥65 years and physician density in each state).

Ecological study.

Entire US population.

Prevalence estimates from all 51 states were used to calculate direct, indirect, and total effects of poverty on the rates of antibiotic prescribing through parallel mediation analysis using linear regression with chronic health conditions (obesity, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) as mediators. I obtained these data from point-prevalence estimates of 2020 survey results from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System for rates on poverty, obesity, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and population aged ≥ 65 years. I also used the Antibiotic Resistance & Patient Safety Portal for antibiotic prescribing rates per 1,000 population and the Association of American Medical Colleges database for the physician density per 100,000 population.

For every percentage increase in prevalence of poverty in each state, the antibiotic prescribing rate increased by 17.4 courses per 1,000 population (95% bootstrap confidence interval, 9.2–24.9) using indirect effects of poverty through mediators.

Antibiotic stewardship programs should consider targeting social determinants of health along with underlying health conditions of patients being treated with antibiotics.

To determine whether a multifaceted initiative resulted in maintained reduction in inappropriate treatment of asymptomatic pyuria (ASP) or bacteriuria (ASB) in the emergency department (ED).

Single-center, retrospective study.

Beginning in December 2015, a series of interventions were implemented to decrease the inappropriate treatment of ASP or ASB in the ED. Patients discharged from the ED from August to October 2015 (preintervention period), from December 2016 to February 2017 (postintervention period 1), and from November 2019 to January 2020 (postintervention period 2) were included if they had pyuria and/or bacteriuria without urinary symptoms. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients prescribed antibiotics within 72 hours of discharge from the ED. The secondary outcome was the number of patients returning to the ED with symptomatic UTI within 30 days of discharge.

We detected a significant decrease in the proportion of patients with ASP or ASB who were inappropriately treated when comparing the preintervention group and post-intervention group 1 (100% vs 32.4%; P < .001). This reduced frequency of inappropriate treatment was noted 3 years after the intervention, with 28% of patients receiving treatment for ASP or ASB in postintervention group 2. (P was not significant fin the comparison with postintervention group 1.) Among the 3 groups analyzed, we detected no difference in the numbers of patients returning to the ED with a symptomatic UTI within 30 days of ED discharge regardless of whether patients received antibiotics.

A multifaceted intervention resulted in a significant decrease in inappropriate use of antibiotics for ASP and/or ASB that was maintained 3 years after implementation.

We aimed to decrease the use of outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) for patients admitted for bone and joint infections (BJIs) by applying a consensus protocol to suggest oral antibiotics for BJI.

A quasi-experimental before-and-after study.

Inpatient setting at a single medical center.

All inpatients admitted with a BJI.

We developed a consensus table of oral antibiotics for BJI among infectious diseases (ID) specialists. Using the consensus table, we implemented a protocol consisting of a weekly reminder e-mail and case-based discussion with the consulting ID physician. Outcomes of patients during the implementation period (November 1, 2020, to May 31, 2021) were compared with those during the preimplementation period (January 1, 2019, to October 31, 2020). Our primary outcome was the proportion of patients treated with OPAT. Secondary outcomes included length of hospital stay (LOS) and recurrence or death within 6 months.

In total, 77 patients during the preimplementation period and 22 patients during the implementation period were identified to have a BJI. During the preimplementation period, 70.1% of patients received OPAT, whereas only 31.8% of patients had OPAT during the implementation period (P = .003). The median LOS after final ID recommendation was significantly shorter during the implementation period (median 3 days versus 1 day; P < .001). We detected no significant difference in the 6-month rate of recurrence (24.7% vs 31.8%; P = .46) or mortality (9.1% vs 9.1%; P = 1.00).

More patients admitted with BJIs were treated with oral antibiotics during the implementation phase of our quality improvement initiative.

To examine how individual steward characteristics (eg, steward role, sex, and specialized training) are associated with their views of antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP) implementation at their institution.

Descriptive survey from a mixed-methods study.

Two large national healthcare systems; the Veterans’ Health Administration (VA) (n = 134 hospitals) and Intermountain Healthcare (IHC; n = 20 hospitals).

We sent the survey to 329 antibiotic stewards serving in 154 hospitals; 152 were physicians and 177 were pharmacists. In total, 118 pharmacists and 64 physicians from 126 hospitals responded.

The survey was grounded in constructs of the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research, and it assessed stewards’ views on the development and implementation of antibiotic stewardship programs (ASPs) at their institutions We then examined differences in stewards’ views by demographic factors.

Regardless of individual factors, stewards agreed that the ASP added value to their institution and was advantageous to patient care. Stewards also reported high levels of collegiality and self-efficacy. Stewards who had specialized training or those volunteered for the role were less likely to think that the ASP was implemented due to a mandate. Similarly volunteers and those with specialized training felt that they had authority in the antibiotic decisions made in their facility.

Given the importance of ASPs, it may be beneficial for healthcare institutions to recruit and train individuals with a true interest in stewardship.

To evaluate the effectiveness of ultraviolet-C (UV-C) disinfection as an adjunct to standard chlorine-based disinfectant terminal room cleaning in reducing transmission of hospital-acquired multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) from a prior room occupant.

A retrospective cohort study was conducted to compare rates of MDRO transmission by UV-C status from January 1, 2016, through December 31, 2018.

Acute-care, single-patient hospital rooms at 6 hospitals within an academic healthcare system in Pennsylvania.

Transmission of hospital-acquired MDRO infection was assessed in patients subsequently assigned to a single-patient room of a source occupant with carriage of 1 or more MDROs on or during admission. Acquisition of 5 pathogens was compared between exposed patients in rooms with standard-of-care chlorine-based disinfectant terminal cleaning with or without adjunct UV-C disinfection. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the adjusted risk of pathogen transfer with adjunctive use of UV-C disinfection.

In total, 33,771 exposed patient admissions were evaluated; the source occupants carried 46,688 unique pathogens. Prior to the 33,771 patient admissions, 5,802 rooms (17.2%) were treated with adjunct UV-C disinfection. After adjustment for covariates, exposed patients in rooms treated with adjunct UV-C were at comparable risk of transfer of any pathogen (odds ratio, 1.06; 95% CI, 0.84–1.32; P = .64).

Our analysis does not support the use of UV-C in addition to post-discharge cleaning with chlorine-based disinfectant to lower the risk of prior room occupant pathogen transfer.