2653. Epidemiology and Risk Factors for Healthcare-Associated Viral Infections in Children

Abstract

BackgroundHealthcare-associated viral infections (HA-VI) are common in hospitalized children and are increasingly recognized as a cause of preventable harm. Yet, epidemiology and modifiable risk factors related to pediatric HA-VI are currently poorly understood.MethodsWe performed a prospective case–control study to identify the risk factors and outcomes associated with pediatric HA-VI at a quaternary care children’s hospital between November 2016 and August 2018. Prospective surveillance for HA-VI was performed hospital-wide by certified infection preventionists using NHSN definitions. Cases were matched 1:1 to controls by age, duration of hospitalization, and hospital unit. We abstracted data from the electronic medical record and conducted semi-structured interviews with patient caregivers to identify potential exposures beginning 4 days prior to HA-VI identification date. We also measured length of antibacterial therapy (LOT) in the 7 days following enrollment.ResultsDuring the study period, we identified 143 eligible patients with HA-VI and enrolled 64 matched case–control pairs. In total, 79 viruses were identified among 64 case patients, of which 53 (67.1%) were respiratory viruses and 26 (32.9%) were GI. Case patients were more frequently exposed to a sick visitor, specifically either caregiver or sibling, compared with controls (18.8% vs. 9.4%; P = 0.20, Fisher exact test). During the exposure period, case patients also had a significantly higher number of hospital procedures performed when compared with controls (n = 320 vs. 232; X2 = 58.43, P < 0.001). Case, when compared with control, patients had a greater average LOT (2.89 vs. 1.08).ConclusionResults of study show that exposure to a sick visitor is a potentially modifiable risk factor for pediatric HA-VI. In addition, hospitalized children with HA-VI have increased exposure to antibacterial antibiotics when compared with matched controls. Prevention of pediatric HA-VI may have implications for antibiotic stewardship. Our findings suggest that hospital policies may need to be revised, with emphasis on visitor screening and partnership with families, to reduce the incidence of pediatric HA-VI during hospitalization.Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.