593. Burden of Healthcare-Associated Infections among Hospitalized Infants within Community Hospitals

BACKGROUND: Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) remain the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among hospitalized children. Within community hospitals with targeted infection prevention efforts, participation in an infection control network has led to significant decreases in device or procedure-related infections among adult patients. The impact of these interventions has not been assessed in pediatric patients admitted to community hospitals. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study to describe the burden of HAI among hospitalized infants (< 1 year old) within 53 community hospitals participating in the Duke Infection Control Outreach Network (DICON) from 2013–2018. We determined the frequency of device-related HAI, central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI), catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) and hospital-associated pneumonia or ventilator-associated events (HAP/VAE) using National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) definitions; and the burden of HAIs among neonatal intensive care units (NICU) and non-NICU centers. The trend of HAI was analyzed with Spearman’s correlation. RESULTS: Thirty hospitals reported 150 HAI among 141 infants over the 6-year period. Median (IQR) time to infection was 10 (4, 20) days after admission. Hospitals with a NICU (15) reported more HAI (median 5, (IQR: 3, 12)) than hospitals without a NICU (median 2 (IQR: 1, 2)) (P = 0.031). CLABSI represented 35% of HAI, HAP/VAE were 23% and CAUTI were 12%. The most frequently isolated primary organism for all HAI was Escherichia coli (22 HAI, 15%) which was also isolated in 39% of CAUTI. Methicillin-resistant and methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) were the most commonly isolated organisms among CLABSI (17%) and HAP/VAE (33%). Nine centers with ≥4 years of NICU and Central line (CL) use data reported a median (IQR) rate of 1.2 (0, 2.4) CLABSIs/1,000 central line days. There was no change in median CLABSI rate over time (P = 0.47), Figure 1. CONCLUSION: CLABSI, most commonly caused by S. aureus, represented the majority of HAI reported from hospitalized infants within community hospitals participating in an infection control network. Further research into device utilization practices may inform future interventions to reduce HAI. [Image: see text] DISCLOSURES: All authors: No reported disclosures.