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:

U.S. Maps: The Impact of COVID-19 on HAI Incidence, by State pdf icon[PDF - 4 pages]

• 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:
  • Changes in the national device-associated HAI SIRs, by location type, 2020 vs. 2019excel icon [XLS – 34 KB]
  • Quarterly SIR comparisons for each HAI type, by state, 2019 vs. 2020 excel icon[XLS – 228 KB]
• Additional HAI and COVID-19 data reports from NHSN can be found on the NHSN Reports page