Surveillance of patients identified with fungal mold at a public academic medical center

Priti Patwari, James Cutrell, Archana Bhaskaran, Sylvia Trevino, Pranavi Sreeramoju

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background This study describes the epidemiology of patients with fungal mold infection or colonization at a large academic medical center during a period of ongoing construction of a new hospital building. Methods This is an observational retrospective cohort study performed at a public academic hospital. We performed focused medical record review of all patients with fungal mold isolated on microbiologic culture over a 3-year period from May 2009 through April 2012. We established case definitions by modifying criteria used in previously published studies. We established 4 categories for invasiveness: proven invasive fungal disease (IFD), probable IFD, clinical infection not meeting IFD criteria, or colonization/contamination. We also established 3 categories for association with our health care facilities: health care-associated hospital onset (HO), health care-associated community onset (HACO), or community associated (CA). Results Of the 188 cases included in the study, 15 (7.9%) and 23 (12.2%) met criteria for proven and probable IFD, respectively. Of the cases, 114 (60.6%) represented contamination or colonization, and 36 (19.1%) had clinical infection not meeting IFD criteria. Epidemiologically, 46 (24.5%) cases were HO, 42 (22.3%) cases were HACO, and 100 (53.2%) cases were CA. Conclusion The surveillance methods we established were helpful for characterizing and monitoring fungal mold infections at the study institution.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)776-780
Number of pages5
JournalAmerican journal of infection control
Volume42
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2014
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Fungal infection
  • Health care-associated infection
  • Infection control
  • Mold infection

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