Infection-prevention and control interventions to reduce colonisation and infection of intensive care unit-acquired carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae: a 4-year quasi-experimental before-and-after study

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether infection-prevention and control (IPC) interventions can reduce the colonisation and infection of intensive care unit (ICU)-acquired carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) in a general ICU ward in China. METHODS: We used a quasi-experimental before-and-after study design. The study was conducted in 4 stages: baseline period, January 2013–June 2013; IPC interventions period including de-escalation and targeted bundle interventions, July 2013–June 2014; modified IPC interventions period, July 2014–June 2015; and follow-up period, July 2015–June 2016. We used modified de-escalation interventions according to patient-risk assessments to prevent the transmission of CRKP. RESULTS: A total of 629 patients were enrolled in study. The incidence of ICU-acquired CRKP colonisation/infection was 10.08 (4.43–16.43) per 1000 ICU patient-days during the baseline period, and significantly decreased early during the IPC interventions, but the colonisation/infections reappeared in April 2014. During the modified IPC intervention and follow-up periods, the incidence of ICU-acquired CRKP colonisations/infections reduced to 5.62 (0.69–6.34) and 2.84 (2.80–2.89), respectively, with ongoing admission of cases with previously acquired CRKP. The incidence of ICU-acquired CRKP catheter-related bloodstream infections decreased from 2.54 during the baseline period to 0.41 during the follow-up period. The incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia and skin and soft tissue infections showed a downward trend from 2.84 to 0.41 and from 3.4 to 0.47, respectively, with slight fluctuations. CONCLUSIONS: Comprehensive IPC interventions including de-escalation and targeted bundle interventions showed a significant reduction in ICU-acquired CRKP colonisations/infections, despite ongoing admission of patients colonised/infected with CRKP. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13756-018-0453-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.