Bloodstream Infections in the COVID-19 Era: A Comparative Analysis between COVID-19 and Non-COVID-19 Critically Ill Patients.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic increased the incidence of severe infections caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens among critically ill patients, such as (AB), whose bloodstream infections (BSIs) have been associated with significant mortality. Whether there is any difference in outcome between COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients with AB BSI still remains unknown. We conducted a retrospective study comparing clinical characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 versus non-COVID-19 critically ill patients with AB BSI. Overall, 133 patients with AB BSI (102 COVID-19, 31 non-COVID-19) were studied. The 28-day mortality rate was high and did not differ significantly (69.6% COVID-19 vs. 61.3% non-COVID-19, = 0.275). Patients with septic shock had a higher mortality rate irrespective of their status with the majority of deaths occurring during the first 7 days. COVID-19 patients were more likely to have ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) as the source of BSI (55.8% vs. 22.3%, respectively, = 0.0001) and were more likely to develop acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) (78.4% vs. 48.4%, respectively, = 0.001), sepsis (86.3% vs. 67.7%, respectively, = 0.03), and septic shock (88.3% vs. 58.1%, respectively, = 0.007) compared to the non-COVID-19 patient group. In conclusion, COVID-19 patients with BSI have a high rate of mortality and more often develop septic shock, while VAP is the main origin of their BSI.