The results of epidemiological monitoring of infectious diseases in a multidisciplinary hospital in period of the spread of COVID‑19 in St. Petersburg

Relevance. The COVID‑19 pandemic required a major reorganization of the entire healthcare system and optimization of epidemiological monitoring of healthscare-associated infections (HAIs) in hospitals repurposed for hospitalization of patients with a new coronavirus infection.

The purpose of the study. Determination of the epidemiological features of healthscare-associated infections in a multidisciplinary hospital during the spread of COVID‑19 in a megapolis.

Materials and methods. The study included 28,891 cases of infectious diseases detected when patients were admitted to a repurposed hospital for the treatment of COVID‑19, and 3,194 cases of HAIs in 2020–2024. The results of microbiological studies include the study of 49673 isolates of microorganisms isolated from patients, including 35633 isolates of bacteria of the ESKAPE group, of which 13669 are resistant to antibiotic. Research methods: retrospective epidemiological analysis, microbiological methods, statistical methods.

Results and discussion. When patients were admitted to the hospital in 2020–2024, more than 20 nosologically forms of infectious diseases were detected, the main share was COVID‑19 and community-acquired pneumonia. The maximum incidence of HAIs caused by SARS-CoV‑2 was observed in 2021, the minimum in 2023–2024 years. In the group HAIs lower respiratory tract infections were the most relevant. The overall structure of pathogens isolated from patients with HAIs was dominated by bacteria of the ESKAPE group (71.7 %). Antibiotic–resistant pathogens were most often detected among Acinetobacter baumannii – up to 84.81 %, Pseudomonas aeruginosa – 70.83 % and representatives of Klebsiella spp. – 58.91 %. A statistically significant trend towards an increase in the frequency of detection of resistant pathogens among Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterococcus faecium has been established.

Conclusion. In the repurposed hospital, the most relevant HAIs were COVID‑19 and lower respiratory tract infections. There is a decrease in the incidence of HAIs, during the period of decreasing intensity of the epidemic process COVID‑19 in the megapolis. It is necessary to strengthen the surveillance of HAIs pathogens resistant to antibiotics.

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