Urinary Tract Infections in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients, What’s Up, Doc?

Abstract

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic might have increased the risks of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs); however, several studies of HAI such as urinary tract infections (UTIs) and catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) have shown contradictory results. The aim of this study is to assess the clinical features of UTIs and bacterial isolates from urine samples of hospitalized COVID-19 patients. We conducted a retrospective observational study including 87 COVID-19 patients with UTIs admitted to our centre. Bacterial UTIs presented were 87: 9 (10.3%) community-acquired UTIs (coinfection group) and 78 (89.6%) hospital-acquired UTIs (superinfection group). In the coinfection group, the most frequent type was non-CAUTI with 5 (55.5%) patients; however, the most frequent UTI in the superinfection group was CAUTI, with 53 (67.9%) patients. The median number of days of hospitalization in coinfected patients was lower than superinfection patients: 13 (IQR 11, 23) vs. 34 days (IQR 23, 47) p < 0.006. All UTI patients admitted to ICU, 38 (43.7%), belonged to the superinfection group. The mortality rate was 26.4% (23/87), 22/23 in the superinfection group. The most common microorganisms were E. coli 27 (28.4%), E. faecalis 25 (26.3%) and E. faecium 20 (21.1%). There was an increased incidence of E. faecalis and E. faecium in UTIs as well as hospital-acquired UTIs. This can be related to urethral catheterization during hospitalization, UCI admissions and the number of days of hospitalization.