Multidrug resistant microorganisms in the intensive care unit without COVID-19 during pandemic

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Kömürcü Ö., Taflan M. G., Bozkurt I., Cayci Y. T., Ülger F.

Journal of Experimental and Clinical Medicine (Turkey), vol.39, no.1, pp.210-215, 2022 (Scopus)

Abstract

There are very few reports on the prevalence of multidrug-resistant microorganisms during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, these publications usually cover covid-19 patients.Our study aimed to compare the prevalence of multidrug-resistant microorganisms in patients without COVID-19 undergoing treatment in an intensive care unit (ICU) during the COVID-19 pandemic with those in the pre-pandemic period. The study was planned retrospectively. In our country, the prevalence of multi-drug-resistant microorganisms was evaluated in the intensive care unit where internal and surgical patients were hospitalized in a single center in 6-month periods before and after the occurrence of covid-19 cases. The prevalence of multidrug-resistant microorganisms increased in patients being followed up in our ICU during the pandemic period (p<0.05). Statistically significant relationships were found between the incidence rate of microorganisms with multi-drug resistance and sex (p=0.028), presence of malignancy (p=0.011), and nurse's duration of work in the ICU (p=0.04). The increased prevalence of multidrug-resistant microorganisms and the infections caused by these microorganisms are other challenges that must be tackled during the pandemic period.