The purpose of this study conducted in one of the four wards at the University Hospital Basel was to determine the incidence of community- and hospital-acquired infections and their characteristics among hospitalized COVID-19 pneumonia patients during the first pandemic wave. The results of this study on the 162 patients revealed that there were few or no community-acquired infections, but 27 patients had hospital-acquired infections. The infections were more common and severe, which included bloodstream infection and ventilator-associated pneumonia among ICU patients. The study described ICU patients as a population at higher risk of developing hospital-acquired infections. The authors recommended the need to have effective and strengthened infection control measures and antimicrobial stewardship. This study may be used in supporting the argument that even before the COVID-19 pandemic, HAIs present significant complexities in prolonged patient illnesses with a higher rate among patients in ICU and on mechanical ventilation support.

Søgaard, K. K., Baettig, V., Osthoff, M., Marsch, S., Leuzinger, K., Schweitzer, M., ... & Egli, A. (2021). Community-acquired and hospital-acquired respiratory tract infection and bloodstream infection in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 pneumonia. Journal of Intensive Care , 9 (1), 10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40560-021-00526-y