Abstract
Background: Little is known about the occurrence of bloodstream infections in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and the related clinical consequences. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to estimate the pooled occurrence of BSIs among hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and mortality of this patient population. Methods: A systematic search was performed on PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science from inception to 19 April 2021. The primary outcome was the occurrence of BSIs among hospitalized patients with COVID-19. The secondary outcome was mortality at the longest available follow-up. Results: Forty-six studies met the inclusion criteria, with a total of 42,694 patients evaluated. The estimated occurrence of BSIs was 7.3% (95% CI 4.7–1.1%) among hospitalized patients with COVID-19, with a mortality rate of 41% (95% CI 30%–52.8%). The subgroup analysis conducted on patients admitted to ICU provided an estimated occurrence of 29.6% (95% CI 21.7%–38.8%). A higher occurrence of BSI was observed in patients with COVID-19, in comparison with patients without COVID-19 (OR 2.77; 95% CI 1.53–5.02; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Our analysis estimated the occurrence of BSIs among hospitalized patients with COVID-19 at around 7%. A four-times higher occurrence was estimated among patients admitted to ICU.
Highlights
Bloodstream infections (BSIs) are frequently causes of infection, sepsis, or septic shock in hospitalized [1] and critically ill patients [2]
The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to estimate the pooled occurrence of BSIs among hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and mortality of this patient population
The inclusion/exclusion process is presented a total of 42,694 patients with COVID-19
Summary
Bloodstream infections (BSIs) are frequently causes of infection, sepsis, or septic shock in hospitalized [1] and critically ill patients [2]. Previous reports have described the occurrence of BSIs in cohorts of patients with other viral pneumonia (e.g., influenza) [3,4]. The clinical features of SARS-CoV-2 infection, the use of immunomodulatory drugs, and the high rate of admission to ICU may pose patients with COVID-19 at a high risk of developing superinfections [5], such as ventilator-associated pneumonia and BSIs [6]. To date, fragmented data are available on the occurrence of BSIs in populations of hospitalized patients with. COVID-19, and little is known about how BSIs may influence the outcome of these patients. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to estimate the pooled occurrence of BSIs among hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and mortality of this patient population.
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