Clinical characteristics and outcomes of nosocomial COVID-19 in Turkey: A retrospective multicenter study

• Published in: Asian Pacific journal of tropical medicine Vol. 16; no. 8; pp. 347 - 353
• Main Authors: Yıldırım, Süleyman, Yılmaz, Celalettin, Polat, Gülru, Baris, Serap, Başyiğit, İlknur, Kaya, İlknur, Anar, Ceyda, Bozkurt, Mihriban, Baykal, Hüsnü, Dirol, Hulya, Ozbey, Gamzenur, Ozsari, Emine, Cireli, Emel, Çıirak, Ali, Tatar, Dursun, Gayaf, Mine, Karaoglanoglu, Selen, Aydin, Yener, Eroglu, Atilla, Olçar, Yıldız, Yıldırım, Berna, Gürsoy, Bengül, Yılmaz, Deniz, Niksarlioglu, Elif, Eren, Ramazan, Erdem, Ayşegül, Tor, Müge, Fakili, Fusun, Çolak, Mustafa, Erçelik, Merve, Tabaru, Ali, Ediboglu, Özlem
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer India Pvt. Ltd 01.08.2023; Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
• Subjects: covid-19; nosocomial infection; vaccination; intensive care unit
• ISSN: 1995-7645; 2352-4146
• DOI: 10.4103/1995-7645.383912

Objective: To identify the clinical characteristics and outcomes of hospital-acquired SARS-CoV-2 infection during the vaccination period nationwide in Turkey. Methods: COVID-19 patients followed in the pandemic services across Turkey between January 1, 2021, and March 31, 2022 were investigated retrospectively. Nosocomial COVID-19 was defined as a patient neither diagnosed with COVID-19 nor suspected COVID-19 at the hospital admission and was confirmed COVID-19 ≥5 days after hospital admission. The primary outcome of this study was in-hospital mortality; demographic features and vaccination status was compared between survivors and non-survivors. Results: During the study period, 15 573 COVID-19 patients were followed in 18 centers and 543 (3.5%) patients were nosocomial COVID-19. Most patients with nosocomial COVID-19 (80.4%) were transferred from medical wards. 162 (29.8%) of the patients with nosocomial COVID-19 admitted to the intensive care unit due to disease severity and 138 (25.4%) of the patients died during hospital stay. Advanced age (≥65 years) and number of comorbid diseases (≥2) was found to be associated with mortality in nosocomial COVID-19 (OR 1.74, 95% Cl 1.11-2.74 and OR 1.60, 95% Cl 1.02-2.56, respectively). Vaccination was associated with survival in nosocomial COVID-19 (OR 0.25, 95% Cl 0.16-0.38). Conclusions: Patients with nosocomial COVID-19 had increased admission to intensive care units and higher mortality rate. Vaccination can decrease the in-hospital mortality rate.