COVID-19 Impact on HAIs in 2020
- The data on this page are from Impact of COVID-19 on HAIs in 2020: A summary of data reported to NHSNexternal icon; Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2021.
- This report used HAI data reported to the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) from acute care hospitals to assess changes in the quarterly Standardized Infection Ratio pdf icon[PDF – 53 pages] (SIRs) for CLABSIs, CAUTIs, VAEs, SSIs, MRSA bacteremia, and C. difficile laboratory-identified events (2019 vs 2020)
Nationally, significant increases in 2020 were observed for CLABSI, CAUTI, VAE, and MRSA bacteremia compared to 2019. The largest increases occurred during quarter 4 (October, November, December) of 2020:
- CLABSI: 47% increase in Q4 across all location types
- 65% increase in intensive care units (ICUs)
- 16% increase in select inpatient wards
- CAUTI: 19% increase in Q4 across all location types
- 30% increase in ICUs
- VAE: 45% increase in Q4 across all location types
- 44% increase in ICUs
- 35% increase in adult inpatient wards
- Significant decreases were observed in C. difficile throughout 2020, compared to 2019
- A summary of changes in national HAI SIRs, for all quarters in 2020, can be found here: Figure 1 pdf icon[PDF – 1 page]
- Increases in device utilization (central line, urinary catheter, and ventilators) were also observed
- Ventilator utilization increased by 25 – 31% in 2020 Q2 – 2020 Q4
- Supplemental data tables are available:
- Additional HAI and COVID-19 data reports from NHSN can be found on the NHSN Reports page
Page last reviewed: August 30, 2021