Bacterial Infection Spread At NJ Hospital As COVID-19 Hit: CDC

NEW JERSEY – A new CDC report says a New Jersey hospital dealt with a potentially troubling bacterial infection just as the COVID-19 crisis hit this year.

On May 28th, an unidentified New Jersey hospital reported a cluster of Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii, or CRAB, infections during a surge in patients hospitalized with the coronavirus, according to a Centers for Disease Control Prevention report released on Tuesday.

It's not known why the CDC report did not identify the hospital. Efforts to obtain comment from the agency were unsuccessful late Tuesday.

Acinetobacter baumannii can cause infections in the blood, urinary tract and lungs or in wounds in other parts of the body. It can also “colonize” or live in a patient without causing infections or symptoms, especially in respiratory secretions or open wounds, according to the CDC.

After the May 28th discovery, the unidentified hospital and the New Jersey Department of Health conducted an investigation and identified 34 patients with hospital-acquired multidrug-resistant CRAB infections during the February to July time period, including 21 who were admitted to two intensive care units dedicated to caring for COVID-19 patients, the report said.

The report noted that, in March, the hospital first dealt with increasing COVID-19–related hospitalizations that led to shortages in personnel, personal protective equipment, or PPE, and medical equipment, resulting in changes to conventional infection prevention and control practices.

The report said the unidentified hospital is an "urban, acute-care" facility in New Jersey with approximately 500 beds. During March through August, the hospital admitted approximately 850 patients with COVID-19. The number of cases peaked on April 9, with 36 new hospitalizations and 61 percent of the inpatient population having a diagnosis of confirmed or suspected COVID-19, the report said.

By June, the hospital reported fewer hospital-associated CRAB cases, coinciding with a sharp decrease in COVID-19 hospitalizations. This trend continued through July. In August, no hospital-associated CRAB cases were reported, the report said.