Background: Microbiology data are utilized to quantify epidemiology and trends in pathogens, antimicrobial resistance, and bloodstream infections. Understanding variability and trends in rates of hospital-level blood culture utilization may be important for interpreting these findings. Methods: We used clinical microbiology results and discharge data to identify monthly blood culture rates from US hospitals participating in the Premier Healthcare Database during 2012–2017. We included all discharges from months where a hospital reported at least 1 blood culture with microbiology and antimicrobial susceptibility results. Blood cultures drawn on or before day 3 were defined as admission cultures (ACs); blood cultures collected after day 3 were defined as a postadmission cultures (PACs). The AC rate was defined as the proportion of all hospitalizations with an AC. The PAC rate was defined as the number of days with a PAC among all patient days. Generalized estimating equation regression models that accounted for hospital-level clustering with an exchangeable correlation matrix were used to measure associations of monthly rates with hospital bed size, teaching status, urban–rural designation, region, month, and year. The AC rates were modeled using logistic regression, and the PAC rates were modeled using a Poisson distribution. Results: We included 11.7 million hospitalizations from 259 hospitals, accounting for nearly 52 million patient days. The median annual hospital-level AC rate was 27.1%, with interhospital variation ranging from 21.1% (quartile 1) to 35.2% (quartile 3) (Fig. 1). Multivariable models revealed no significant trends over time (P = .74), but statistically significant associations between AC rates with month (P < .001) and region (P = .003), associations with teaching status (P = .063), and urban-rural designation (P = .083) approached statistical significance. There was no association with bed size (P = .38). The median annual hospital-level PAC rate was 11.1 per 1,000 patient days, and interhospital variability ranged from 7.6 (quartile 1) to 15.2 (quartile 3) (Fig. 2). Multivariable models of PAC rates showed no significant trends over time (P = .12). We found associations between PAC rates with month (P = .016), bed size (P = .030), and teaching status (P = .040). PAC rates were not associated with urban–rural designation (P = .52) or region (P = .29). Conclusions: Blood culture utilization rates in this large cohort of hospitals were unchanged between 2012 and 2017, though substantial interhospital variability was detected. Although both AC and PAC rates vary by time of year and potentially by teaching status, AC rates vary by geographic characteristics whereas PAC rates vary by bed size. These factors are important to consider when comparing rates of bloodstream infections by hospital.

Funding: None

Disclosures: None

Background: Immunization resistance is fueling a resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases in the United States, where several large measles outbreaks and 1,282 measles cases were reported in 2019. Concern about these measles outbreaks prompted a large healthcare organization to develop a preparedness plan to limit healthcare-associated transmission. Verification of employee rubeola immunity and immunization when necessary was prioritized because of transmission risk to nonimmune employees and role of the healthcare personnel in responding to measles cases. Methods: The organization employs ∼31,000 people in diverse settings. A multidisciplinary team was formed by infection prevention, infectious diseases, occupational health, and nursing departments to develop the preparedness plan. Immunity was monitored using a centralized database. Employees without evidence of immunity were asked to provide proof of vaccination, defined by the CDC as 2 appropriately timed doses of rubeola-containing vaccine, or laboratory confirmation of immunity. Employees were given 30 days to provide documentation or to obtain a titer at the organization’s expense. Staff with negative titers were given 2 weeks to coordinate with the occupational heath department for vaccination. Requests for medical or religious accommodations were evaluated by occupational heath staff, the occupational heath medical director, and the human resources department. All employees were included, though patient-interfacing employees in departments considered higher risk were prioritized. These areas were the emergency, dermatology, infectious diseases, labor and delivery, obstetrics, and pediatrics departments. Results: At the onset of the initiative in June 2019, 4,009 employees lacked evidence of immunity. As of November 2019, evidence of immunity had been obtained for 3,709 employees (92.5%): serological evidence of immunity was obtained for 2,856 (71.2%), vaccine was administered to 584 (14.6%), and evidence of previous vaccination was provided by 269 (6.7%). Evidence of immunity has not been documented for 300 (7.5%). The organization administered 3,626 serological tests and provided 997 vaccines, costing ∼$132,000. Disposition by serological testing is summarized in Table 1. Conclusions: A measles preparedness strategy should include proactive assessment of employees’ immune status. It is possible to expediently assess a large number of employees using a multidisciplinary team with access to a centralized database. Consideration may be given to prioritization of high-risk departments and patient-interfacing roles to manage workload.

Funding: None

Disclosures: None

Background: The Texas Department of State Health Services Healthcare Safety (HCS) Investigation Team began investigating a cluster of positive carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CRPA) results in August 2017. These CRPA isolates contained the novel carbapenemase Verona integron-encoded metallo-β-lactamase (VIM). This cluster became an outbreak that spanned >2 years and involved multiple healthcare facilities in and around northern Texas. In response to positive results, infection control assessments were conducted, which exposed common infection control gaps including inadequate hand hygiene performance, environmental cleaning issues, and poor communication during interfacility patient transfers. As part of the ongoing investigation efforts, a regional containment strategy was developed to prevent the spread of multidrug-resistant organisms. Methods: Beginning in October 2018, the HCS Investigation Team made site visits to participating facilities every 6 months to provide targeted infection control support and hand hygiene performance and environmental cleaning observations. An initial kick-off meeting was held in February 2019 for facilities to begin collaboration on the containment strategy. This strategy became known as BOOT, an acronym meaning: Being prompt in response to positive cases, Obtaining isolates for testing, Optimizing infection prevention, and Transferring patients using a designated form. An interfacility transfer form to reduce the risk of transmission of multidrug-resistant organisms when patients are transferred between healthcare facilities was developed by a work group that consisted of the local health department, the Public Health Region healthcare-associated infections epidemiologist, and multiple healthcare facilities. Results: Facilities have increased communication with other facilities and with the health departments since the implementation of the BOOT strategy. The local health department is contacted when facilities do not receive a transfer form, and follow-up is initiated to ensure appropriate understanding and compliance. Facility handwashing rates and environmental cleaning results have improved with each visit, and access to alcohol-based hand sanitizing dispensers has increased in select facilities. Conclusions: The regional containment strategy is dynamic and ongoing, and changes are implemented as obstacles are encountered. Implementation has resulted in a successful decrease of positive VIM results in the local area by ∼50% since the first half of 2019. This program has led to greater collaboration among healthcare facilities, health departments, and a neighboring state. This investigation and its products have been used as a model for the implementation of containment strategies in other regions of Texas. The HCS Investigation Team hopes to create and implement an interfacility transfer form that can be used in healthcare facilities statewide.

Funding: None

Disclosures: None

Background: In hospitals, Verona integron-encoded metallo-β-lactamase (VIM)–positive Pseudomonas aeruginosa (VPPA) frequently colonize sink drains. Sink use has been shown to disperse VPPA to other surfaces surrounding sinks, creating a potential transmission source. Objective: Because VPPA have been isolated from sinks and patients within our hospital, we analyzed colonization dynamics in 2 sinks identified as VPPA hot spots between 2012 and 2018. Methods: One sink was in an intensive care unit (ICU) patient room and the other was in a gastrointestinal surgery (GIS) patient room. ICU patients were screened for VPPA on admission, at discharge, and weekly during hospitalization. GIS patients were screened for VPPA only on clinical indication. In this study, patient and sink isolates were typed at 8 loci using multiple-locus variable-number tandem repeat (VNTR) analysis (MLVA). Results: Overall, 19 sink isolates from the ICU room were included. In 2013, VPPA isolates with identical VNTR genotypes (“clone B,” VNTR nos. 2-4-8-4-4-5-10-[-2]) were found in the wash basin, aerator, drain, and siphon. The drain plug was replaced in August 2013, but B was isolated from the drain 1 month later. Every year between 2014 and 2018, clone B and other closely related genotypes were recovered from this drain. In 2018, clone B was also found on the wash basin and counter. No positive patients were identified in this room until 2016, when a patient acquired clone B 6 days after admission. From the GIS room, 6 sink isolates and 4 patients’ isolates were included. In 2012, clone B was found on the wash basin and sink drain plug. Also, 3 VPPA-positive patients stayed in this room in 2012: at discharge, 1 patient was colonized by “clone A,” VNTR numbers 6-7-8-5-9-8-6-1. Furthermore, 2 other patients screened positive for clone B prior to admission in 2012, so they likely acquired VPPA elsewhere. The drain plug was replaced in 2013, and no VPPA was found again until 2017, when 2 VPPA-positive patients stayed in this room: 1 was already a carrier of clone B, and the other was a carrier of clone B 1 day after admission. No positive sink cultures were found until January 2018, when closely related B isolates were recovered from the wash basin, drain, and drain plug. Conclusions: Between 2013 and 2018, clone B persisted in the ICU room sink. In the GIS room sink, clone B may have disappeared after 2012, but it was reintroduced by known carriers. However, few patients became colonized after being admitted to these rooms, even when VPPA were discovered on surfaces outside the sink drain (ie, the wash basin and counter).

Funding: None

Disclosures: None

Background: Respiratory and enteric viruses are highly contagious pathogens that can be spread by contaminated hands and surfaces. We hypothesized that alternatives to handshake greetings that reduce the time and surface area of hand contact would be associated with decreased transfer of viral particles. Methods: In a simulation of hand-contact greetings, volunteers (N = 22) used a keyboard contaminated with the benign bacteriophage MS2 and then performed a handshake and fist bump with additional volunteers. To assess viral transfer, hands were cultured for MS2, and plaque-forming units (PFU) were compared for the different types of hand contact. Additional simulations (N = 10) were conducted to compare viral transfer with the fist bump versus a cruise tap greeting (ie, a modified fist bump involving single knuckle contact). Results: The handshake greeting resulted in significantly greater transfer of MS2 than the fist bump (1.31 vs 0.54 log10 PFUs, P < .001) (Fig. 1A), but the frequency of transfer of virus was high for both greetings (91% transfer by handshake vs 59% by fist bump). The cruise-tap greeting did not result in reduced transfer of viral particles in comparison to the fist bump (Fig. 1B), and the frequency of transfer remained high (70%). Conclusions: The fist-bump and cruise-tap greetings could potentially reduce transmission of viruses in comparison to the handshake, but transfer occurred frequently, even with these greeting methods. To eliminate hand-to-hand transmission of respiratory and enteric viruses, alternative greeting methods that do not involve physical contact are needed.

Funding: None

Disclosures: None

Background: The Australian Government released a national strategy for antimicrobial resistance in 2015 that calls for a collaborative effort to change practices that have contributed to the development of drug-resistant infection and for the implementation of new initiatives to reduce antibiotic use. Although many achievements have been made in antimicrobial stewardship (AMS), particularly in the acute-care hospital setting, progress more broadly has been slow, and novel solutions are now required to improve clinical practice and community awareness. A facilitated workshop was undertaken at the 2019 National Australian Antimicrobial Resistance Forum to explore the complexity of AMS implementation in Australia and to prioritize future action. Methods: Participants engaged in rotating rounds of discussion using a world café format. The participants sat face-to-face at tables of 7 or fewer. At each table were 2 facilitators: one was a note taker and the other was the discussion leader. Each of the 6 facilitator pairs had a topic for discussion related to implementing antimicrobial stewardship in different contexts, with a focus on experience with strategies that have worked, major implementation barriers, and prioritizing the next steps. The topics for discussion included (1) engaging with hospital staff; (2) implementation in resource-poor settings; (3) implementation in primary care and aged care; (4) engaging and empowering the public; (5) linking data with implementation strategies; and (6) leadership. The facilitators moved between tables at 15-minute intervals to encourage evolving rounds of conversation. Once all tables had discussed all of the themes, the discussion concluded and notes were summarized. A qualitative analysis using an interpretive description approach was conducted using the discussion summaries. The documents were independently openly coded by 2 researchers to identify elements relating to the implementation of antimicrobial stewardship. An iterative approach was used to identify themes and reach a consensus on overarching emergent themes from the workshop. Results: In total, 39 experts (ie, pharmacists, infectious disease physicians, infection prevention nurses, researchers, journalists and consumers) participated in the facilitated discussions. Strategies were discussed relating to engaging with clinicians, consumers, and politicians; adapting to funding, governance, and accreditation limitations; and models for outreach of antimicrobial services. Other themes included the role of clinical champions and mentors as leaders and improving use of audit and feedback through focusing on monitoring appropriateness rather than usage. Conclusions: Recommendations from the workshop will be used to prioritize novel ideas to improve the implementation of AMS initiatives across Australia.

Funding: None

Disclosures: None

Background: Hospital-acquired infections pose a significant threat to patient health. Laboratories are starting to consider whole-genome sequencing (WGS) as a molecular method for outbreak detection and epidemiological surveillance. The objective of this study was to assess the use of the iSeq100 platform (Illumina, San Diego, CA) for accurate sequencing and WGS-based outbreak detection using the bioMérieux EPISEQ CS, a novel cloud-based software for sequence assembly and data analysis. Methods: In total, 25 isolates, including 19 MRSA isolates and 6 ATCC strains were evaluated in this study: A. baumannii ATCC 19606, B. cepacia ATCC 25416, E. faecalis ATCC 29212, E. coli ATCC 25922, P. aeruginosa ATCC 27853 and S. aureus ATCC 25923. DNA extraction of all isolates was performed on the QIAcube (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany) using the DNEasy Ultra Clean Microbial kit extraction protocol. DNA libraries were prepared for WGS using the Nextera DNA Flex Library Prep Kit (Illumina) and sequenced at 2×150-bp on the iSeq100 according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The 19 MRSA isolates were previously characterized by the DiversiLab system (bioMérieux, France). Upon validation of the iSeq100 platform, a new outbreak analysis was performed using WGS analysis using EPISEQ CS. ATCC sequences were compared to assembled reference genomes from the NCBI GenBank to assess the accuracy of the iSeq100 platform. The FASTQ files were aligned via BowTie2 version 2.2.6 software, using default parameters, and FreeBayes version 1.1.0.46-0 was used to call homozygous single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with a minimum coverage of 5 and an allele frequency of 0.87 using default parameters. ATCC sequences were analyzed using ResFinder version 3.2 and were compared in silico to the reference genome. Results: EPISEQ CS classified 8 MRSA isolates as unrelated and grouped 11 isolates into 2 separate clusters: cluster A (5 isolates) and cluster B (6 isolates) with similarity scores of ≥99.63% and ≥99.50%, respectively. This finding contrasted with the previous characterization by DiversiLab, which identified 3 clusters of 2, 8, and 11 isolates, respectively. The EPISEQ CS resistome data detected the mecA gene in 18 of 19 MRSA isolates. Comparative analysis of the ATCCsequences to the reference genomes showed 99.9986% concordance of SNPs and 100.00% concordance between the resistance genes present. Conclusions: The iSeq100 platform accurately sequenced the bacterial isolates and could be an affordable alternative in conjunction with EPISEQ CS for epidemiological surveillance analysis and infection prevention.

Funding: None

Disclosures: None

Background: Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) is increasingly used in epidemiological investigations of infectious diseases. We describe the use of WGS to identify drug-resistance variants of tuberculosis (TB) and to determine potential transmission between patients at an academic medical center. Methods: Chart review and interviews of patients and healthcare workers along with WGS of M. tuberculosis isolates from the patients. Clinical information: In June 2019, patient A, a 20-year-old college student born in the United States was admitted with massive hemoptysis. The patient was identified as having active, cavitary TB that was acid-fast smear positive, and the mycobacterial culture grew M. tuberculosis. Patient B, a 40-year-old foreign-born patient with advanced lung cancer was acid-fast smear negative, but mycobacterial cultures were positive for M. tuberculosis. The 2 patients had overlapping stays in the medical intensive care unit. There was concern that patient B had acquired TB during her stay in the hospital from patient A, who was highly infectious. WGS showed that the mycobacterial isolates from the 2 patients were unrelated. Patient A was a student at a college campus where the state health department had previously issued a health advisory concerning active pulmonary TB in a student; and 7 additional TB cases were subsequently identified through contact investigation. Patient A denied any contact with other persons who were part of the outbreak and had not been included in the contact investigations of any of the cases. Of the 8 outbreak cases, 6 had been seen at our institution and had isolates available for testing. WGS showed that these 6 isolates matched patient A, establishing that she was part of the college outbreak. Conclusions: WGS was useful in establishing the source of M. tuberculosis infection in a patient who did not have known exposure to TB and in demonstrating that transmission of TB did not occur in the hospital.

Funding: None

Disclosures: None

Background: Metrics are critical to healthcare, particularly in areas that are highly process oriented. Our hospital’s central sterilizing department functions on standardized processes that have almost no industry specific measurements. Furthermore, the department had no formal internal method for process performance evaluation. A multiphase 6 Sigma DMAIC project was initiated in February 2019 in the central sterilizing department, with ‘phase 1’ being the development of performance metrics to evaluate current state and track future improvement. Methods: A DMAIC team was formed and completed a data inventory that included identifying all existing data sources pertaining to central sterilizing. Sources identified as reliable included count of daily surgical cases, counts of defects based on surgical services communication logs, number of surgical trays processed in the central sterilizing department, and the number of unsterile trays in the department at the start of each 7:00 a.m. shift. Results: A multidisciplinary team including surgeons and senior leadership formed the DMAIC team. Using identified data sources and input from frontline staff and leadership, official metric definitions were created. Weekly defect rates were chosen as a measurement and translated into the number of ready-for-use surgical trays at the time of case setup for every 100 surgical cases. Data from November 2018 through January 20, 2019, demonstrated the mean ready-for-use surgical trays at the time of case setup: for every 100 surgical cases, 96 the surgical trays was ready for use. Further analysis of the data over time demonstrated that variability was out of control. Defects were stratified into 12 categories. Moreover, 6 defects were creating 80% of the issues in trays not being ready: ‘hole in wrapper,’ ‘biohazardous debris,’ ‘nonbiohazardous debris,’ ‘missing instrument,’ ‘incorrect/mislabeled instrument trays,’ and ‘missing indicators.’ Results for unsterile trays at 7:00 a.m. showed that, on average, the central sterilizing department had 100 or more trays at the start of each 7:00 a.m. shift. Conclusions: Without a formal method for data collection, defined metrics, and ongoing analysis, evaluation of performance is based on anecdotal conclusions resulting in missed opportunities for improvement and, subsequently, opportunities for improved patient safety. Regularly published visible dashboards provide a true picture of performance, allowing staff to identify unwanted variation and to put interventions in place so that future variation is better controlled and or prevented. Additionally, having solid metrics, even when no industry ones exist, aid in measuring the effectiveness of improvement efforts, such as the DMAIC project, as they move into subsequent phases.

Funding: None

Disclosures: None

Background: Critical access hospitals (CAHs) serving rural communities have numerous limitations regarding resources, infrastructure, and staffing to support antibiotic stewardship programs (ASPs) and related quality improvement activities. The Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) established the Medicare Beneficiary Quality Improvement Project (MBQIP) to provide CAHs with specialized technical assistance in quality improvement data collection and reporting to drive improvements in the quality of care and to reduce barriers to establishing ASPs. In 2016, FORHP developed an antibiotic stewardship process measure in partnership with the CDC to assess progress on implementing ASPs and to optimize hospital quality improvement practices related to antibiotic use. This is the first measure to be successfully implemented and reported at a national level to improve the judicious use of antibiotics in hospitals. Methods: A process measure was developed to assess adherence to the 7 core elements of a successful hospital ASP (ie, leadership, accountability, drug expertise, action, tracking, reporting, and education), as defined by CDC guidelines. Implementation was accomplished through CAH participation in the NHSN Annual Facility Survey (AFS). Responses were analyzed to assess fidelity to each core element, to identify trends, and to benchmark measure reporting among 1,350 CAHs across the United States. Responses were mapped to 7 core element categories, and the total number of positive responses were matched to each core element for a specific survey year to track progress. Overall, the measure assessed progress in meeting all 7 core elements, as well as program robustness in the number of actions implemented and the amount of data tracked and reported at each hospital. NHSN reports were generated to tailor technical assistance activities and to assist hospitals with measure uptake and reporting. Results: CAH participation in the NHSN significantly increased from 2014 to 2018 (83% response rate). From 2014 through 2018, reporting of the new antibiotic stewardship measure consistently increased. CAHs that met all core elements increased from 18% (2014) to 73% (2018). Performance-based benchmarks enabled hospital comparisons and the establishment of reporting goals. Conclusions: This study highlights viable approaches to measuring antibiotic stewardship at a national level to drive improvements in care at hospitals of any size. The implementation of the antibiotic stewardship measure across CAHs demonstrates the impact of federal programs like MBQIP for hospitals that are building capacity for quality improvement. For the first time, CAHs were able to measure and compare their implementation of ASPs to other hospitals at the state and national level.

Funding: None

Disclosures: None

Background: The likelihood of endoscopy-associated infections (EAIs) is often referenced from a paper published in 1993 by Kimmery et al1 in which a risk of 1 exogenous infection for every 1.8 million endoscopies (0.00006%) is proclaimed. Even though Ofstead et al2 pointed out in 2013 that this was at least an underestimation by 6-fold because of erroneous assumptions and mathematical errors, the original calculation is still often referred to. In the past decade, multiple outbreaks of multidrug-resistant microorganisms (MDROs) related to contaminated duodenoscopes have been reported worldwide. This leads to the assumption that the former risk calculation is indeed incorrect. Objective: We calculated the duodenoscope-associated infection (DAI) risk for the Dutch ERCP practice. Methods: We searched and consolidated all Dutch patients reported in the literature to have suffered from a clinical infection linked to a contaminated duodenoscope between 2008 and 2018. From a national database, the number of ERCPs performed per year in The Netherlands were retrieved. Actual numbers were available from 2012 to 2018. Numbers from 2008 to 2011 were estimated and assumed to be equal to 2012. Results: In 2008–2018, 3 MDRO outbreaks in Dutch hospitals were reported in the literature, with 21 patients suffering from a clinical infection based on a microorganism proven to be transmitted by a duodenoscope. In that period, ∼203,500 ERCP procedures were performed. Hence, for every 9,690 procedures, 1 patient developed a clinically relevant infection (DAI risk, 0.010%). Conclusions: The risk of developing a DAI is at least 30–180 times higher than the risks that were previously reported for all types of endoscopy-associated infections. Importantly, the current calculated risk of 0.010% constitutes a bare minimum risk of DAI because endoscope-related infections are underreported. Apart from DAI risk, a patient is also at risk of becoming colonized with a microorganism through contaminated endoscopes but without developing symptoms of clinical infection. These data call for consorted action of medical practitioners, industry, and government agencies to minimize and ultimately eliminate the risk of exogenous endoscope-associated infections and contamination. As a first step, the FDA recently recommended that healthcare facilities and manufacturers begin transitioning to duodenoscopes with disposable components.3

Funding: None

Disclosures: None

Background: The opioid epidemic has led to a dramatic increase in the rate of invasive bacterial infections, including a 4-fold increase in sepsis and a 12-fold increase in endocarditis. The increase has been demonstrated in both veteran and nonveteran populations (Fig. 1). Thus, an urgent need exists to develop novel tools to educate patients and providers regarding (1) at-risk moments among intravenous drug users and (2) methods for preventing transmission of bacterial and viral infections associated with injection drug use. Methods: We conducted a survey among medical trainees and staff and collected information about knowledge and attitudes about harm-reduction services. To address gaps in knowledge, we developed an educational tool for promoting better infection prevention practices among patients who inject drugs by adapting the WHO Five Moments of Hand Hygiene. Results: In total, 43 medical trainees and staff responded to the survey. All respondents regarded infections as a serious risk among patients who inject drugs, although there was variation in perception about which types of pathogens were the most likely to be acquired through this pathway (ie, bacterial vs viral). Among survey respondents, 15 of 39 (38%) reported that they have counseled patients who inject drugs about infection prevention, whereas 24 (58%) reported that they had never provided counseling. The reason for the lack of counseling was primarily a lack of knowledge and a lack of resources (10 of 24, 42%). One-quarter (6 of 24, 25%) reported that they did perceive infection prevention counseling to be part of their role. To solve this knowledge and resource gap, we developed an educational tool designed to promote understanding of the risk of bacterial, viral, and fungal infections and how to prevent them (Fig. 2, A and B). The “Six Moments” model highlights important high-risk moments and activities, such as skin cleaning, use of clean needles, and avoiding oral contamination of needles, as well as the corresponding pathogens that can be transmitted at each stage. Infection prevention strategies are them applied to demonstrate how these infections can be averted. The tool focuses on simple infection prevention interventions that can be taught to patients and providers not trained in infection control to limit transmission of infections associated with IV drug use and addresses the knowledge gap identified through the provider survey. Conclusions: This novel tool can be part of a comprehensive educational program that translates infection prevention principles and applies them to reduce infectious morbidity and mortality related to injection drug use.

Funding: None

Disclosures: None

Background: Ultraviolet light (UV) disinfection using low-pressure mercury lamps has been around since the 1940s. The advent of pulsed-xenon UV for hospital use in 2010 has provided a nontoxic and novel technology for hospital disinfection with the first data presented at the 2010 SHEA Decennial. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to examine the current body of evidence for pulsed xenon UV disinfection. Methods: The literature search criteria included the following: research conducted in domestic and international settings using pulsed-xenon for surface disinfection, published between 2000 and 2019, and reporting on environmental effectiveness or hospital-acquired reductions (HAIs). We searched PubMed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science. The meta-analysis included 24 studies: 12 HAI outcome studies and 12 environmental effectiveness studies. Meta-analyses were conducted by calculating the percentage reductions for environmental effectiveness, and for the HAI outcome studies, we used a random-effects model to pool the relative risk of HAI. The outcome studies used 272 and 299 months of data for the experimental and control groups, respectively. Results: There was an overall benefit of using pulsed-xenon UV. The overall relative risk of infection decreased compared to the control arm (RR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.54–0.76). The percentage reductions in environmental studies were as follows: Clostridioides difficile (94.8%), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus(91.5%), vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (99.2%), and aerobic bacteria (94.2%). Conclusions: Overall, pulsed-xenon UV was effective for reducing environmental contamination and had the ability to significantly reduce HAIs.

Funding: Xenex, Inc., funded this study.

Disclosures: Mark Stibich receives a salary from Xenex and is a shareholder of Xenex. Deborah Passey receives a salary from Xenex Disinfection Services.

Background: It is well known that contaminated surfaces contribute to the transmission of pathogens in healthcare settings, necessitating the need for antimicrobial strategies beyond routine cleaning with momentary disinfectants. A recent publication demonstrated that application of a novel, continuously active antimicrobial surface coating in ICUs resulted in the reduction of healthcare-associated infections. Objective: We determined the general microbial bioburden and incidence of relevant pathogens present in patient rooms at 2 metropolitan hospitals before and after application of a continuously active antimicrobial surface coating. Methods: A continuously active antimicrobial surface coating was applied to patient rooms in intensive care units (ICUs) twice over an 18-month period and in non-ICUs twice over a 6-month study period. The environmental bioburden was assessed 8–16 weeks after each treatment. A 100-cm2 area was swabbed from frequently touched areas in patient rooms: patient chair arm rest, bed rail, TV remote, and backsplash behind the sink. The total aerobic bacteria count was determined for each location by enumeration on tryptic soy agar (TSA); the geometric mean was used to compare bioburden before and after treatment. Each sample was also plated on selective agar for carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and Clostridioides difficile to determine whether pathogens were present. Pathogen incidence was calculated as the percentage of total sites positive for at least 1 of the 4 target organisms. Results: Before application of the antimicrobial coating, total aerobic bacteria counts in ICUs were >1,500 CFU/100 cm2, and at least 30% of the sites were positive for a target pathogen (ie, CRE, VRE, MRSA or C. difficile). In non-ICUs, the bioburden before treatment was at least 500 CFU/100 cm2, with >50% of sites being contaminated with a pathogen. After successive applications of the surface coating, total aerobic bacteria were reduced by >80% in the ICUs and >40% in the non-ICUs. Similarly, the incidence of pathogen-positive sites was reduced by at least 50% in both ICUs and non-ICUs. Conclusions: The use of a continuously active antimicrobial surface coating provides a significant (P < .01) and sustained reduction in aerobic bacteria while also reducing the occurrence of epidemiologically important pathogens on frequently touched surfaces in patient rooms. These findings support the use of novel antimicrobial technologies as an additional layer of protection against the transmission of potentially harmful bacteria from contaminated surfaces to patients.

Funding: Allied BioScience provided Funding: for this study.

Disclosures: Valerie Beck reports salary from Allied BioScience.

Background: Recent studies have focused on the early infant gut microbiome, indicating that antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) can be acquired in early life and may have long-term sequelae. Limiting the spread of antimicrobial resistance without triggering the development of additional resistance mechanisms would be of immense clinical value. Here, we present 2 analyses that highlight the abundance of ARGs in preterm and term infants and a proof of concept for modulating the microbiome to promote early stabilization and reduction in ARGs in term infants. Methods: Large-scale metagenomic analysis was performed on 2,141 microbiome samples (90% from pre-term infants) from 10 countries; most were from the United States (87%) and were obtained from the Comprehensive Antibiotic Resistance Database (CARD). We assessed the abundance and specific types of ARGs present. In the second study, healthy, breastfed infants were fed B. infantis EVC001 for 3 weeks starting at postnatal day 7. Stool samples were collected at day 21 and were processed utilizing shotgun metagenomics. Selected antimicrobial-resistant bacterial species were isolated, sequenced, and tested for minimal inhibitory concentrations to clinically relevant antibiotics. Results: In the first study, globally, 417 distinct ARGs were identified. The most abundant gene among all samples was annotated as msrE, a plasmid gene known to confer resistance to macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B (MLSB) antibiotics. The remaining most-abundant ARGs were efflux-pump genes associated with multidrug resistance. No significant association in antimicrobial resistance was found when considering delivery mode or antibiotic treatment in the first month of life. In the second study, the EVC001-fed group showed a significant decrease (90%) in ARGs compared to controls (P < .0001). ARGs that differed significantly between groups were predicted to confer resistance to β-lactams, fluoroquinolones, or multiple drug classes. Minimal inhibitory concentration assays confirmed resistance phenotypes among isolates Notably, we found resistance to extended-spectrum β-lactamases among healthy, vaginally delivered breastfed infants who had never been exposed to antibiotics. Conclusions: In this study, we show that the term and preterm infant microbiome contains alarming levels of ARGs associated with clinically relevant antibiotics harbored by bacteria commonly responsible for nosocomial infections. Colonization of the breastfed infant gut by a single strain of B. longum subsp infantis had profound impacts on the fecal metagenome, including reduction in ARGs and reduction of potential pathogens. These findings highlight the importance of developing novel approaches to limit the spread of ARGs among clinically relevant bacteria and the relevance of an additional approach in the effort to solve AR globally.

Funding: Evolve BioSystems provided Funding: for this study.

Disclosures: Giorgio Casaburi reports salary from Evolve BioSystems.

Background: Infection prevention surveillance for cross transmission is often performed by manual review of microbiologic culture results to identify geotemporally related clusters. However, the sensitivity and specificity of this approach remains uncertain. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) analysis can help provide a gold-standard for identifying cross-transmission events. Objective: We employed a published WGS program, the Philips IntelliSpace Epidemiology platform, to compare accuracy of two surveillance methods: (i.) a virtual infection practitioner (VIP) with perfect recall and automated analysis of antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST), sample collection timing, and patient location data and (ii) a novel clinical matching (CM) algorithm that provides cluster suggestions based on a nuanced weighted analysis of AST data, timing of sample collection, and shared location stays between patients. Methods: WGS was performed routinely on inpatient and emergency department isolates of Enterobacter cloacae, Enterococcus faecium, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa at an academic medical center. Single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) were compared within core genome regions on a per-species basis to determine cross-transmission clusters. Moreover, one unique strain per patient was included within each analysis, and duplicates were excluded from the final results. Results: Between May 2018 and April 2019, clinical data from 121 patients were paired with WGS data from 28 E. cloacae, 21 E. faecium, 61 K. pneumoniae, and 46 P. aeruginosa isolates. Previously published SNV relatedness thresholds were applied to define genomically related isolates. Mapping of genomic relatedness defined clusters as follows: 4 patients in 2 E. faecium clusters and 2 patients in 1 P. aeruginosa cluster. The VIP method identified 12 potential clusters involving 28 patients, all of which were “pseudoclusters.” Importantly, the CM method identified 7 clusters consisting of 27 patients, which included 1 true E. faecium cluster of 2 patients with genomically related isolates. Conclusions: In light of the WGS data, all of the potential clusters identified by the VIP were pseudoclusters, lacking sufficient genomic relatedness. In contrast, the CM method showed increased sensitivity and specificity: it decreased the percentage of pseudoclusters by 14% and it identified a related genomic cluster of E. faecium. These findings suggest that integrating clinical data analytics and WGS is likely to benefit institutions in limiting expenditure of resources on pseudoclusters. Therefore, WGS combined with more sophisticated surveillance approaches, over standard methods as modeled by the VIP, are needed to better identify and address true cross-transmission events.

Funding: This study was supported by Philips Healthcare.

Disclosures: None

Background: The role of surface contamination in infections is of interest in healthcare as well as other industries, especially where infections incur high cost. One such industry is professional sports, where infections pose significant risks to players and the organizations that employ them. Sports training facilities experience highly variable occupancy rates due to differing seasonal activities, presenting a measurement challenge because the relationship between occupancy and surface contamination is not well described. In a recent publication, a continuously active antimicrobial (CAA) surface coating demonstrated a reduction in bacterial bioburden in ICUs alongside a reduction in healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). Objective: We investigated the impact of a CAA surface coating on bioburden in 2 professional sports training facilities, despite changes in occupancy. Methods: A CAA surface coating was applied using an electrostatic sprayer to all surfaces in both facilities during a period of high-occupancy at facility A and during low occupancy at facility B. Surface cultures were taken using 3M Sponge-Sticks from lockers, gym equipment, and physiotherapy surfaces before treatment, 4–13 weeks after treatment at facility A and 4–23 weeks after treatment at facility B. Total aerobic bacteria counts were obtained by plating on tryptic soy agar, and geometric means of aerobic plate counts (APCs) were used to compare bioburden before and after treatment at both facilities and for an out-of-efficacy period at facility B (17–23 weeks). Occupancy rates were monitored as person days per week (pd/w) over the course of the study. Results: APC counts at facility A decreased 61% (585 CFU/100 cm2 to 226 CFU/100 cm2) from baseline to posttreatment, and occupancy remained constant (165 pd/w to 171 pd/w). At facility B, there was no significant change in APC (76 CFU/100 cm2 to 80 CFU/100 cm2), although occupancy increased >13,000% during the treatment period (3 pd/w to 386 pd/w). During the out-of-efficacy period at facility B, total bacteria increased 170% (217 CFU/100 cm2) compared to the treatment period, and the occupancy remained relatively constant (344 pd/w). Conclusions: Levels of bioburden were significantly influenced by the application of the CAA surface coating, especially considering the variation in occupancy in both facilities before, during, and after the efficacy period. Facility A saw a significant reduction in bioburden during the treatment period (P < .0001), and a significant increase was observed at facility B during the out-of-efficacy period (P < .0001) despite constant occupancy rates, demonstrating the ability of the surface coating to reduce bioburden levels despite large changes in occupancy.

Funding: Allied BioScience, Inc, provided Funding: for this study.

Disclosures: Gavri Grossman, Valerie Beck, and Daniel S Watson report salary from Allied BioScience.

Background: Alcohol-based hand rubs (ABHRs) are the primary form of hand hygiene in healthcare settings globally. Many developed countries, and most US hospitals utilize wall-mounted ABHR dispensers throughout the facility. The adoption of automated touch-free dispensers is increasing. However, data on the efficacy of ABHRs when used at dispensed amounts are limited. The evidence is strong, showing that formulation matters (not just alcohol concentration) and that agent volume impacts efficacy. Objective: We evaluated the efficacy of ABHR foams on human hands using 2 controlled test methods at variable volumes (ie, typical doses and realistic volumes that healthcare personnel could use in patient care practice). Methods: We tested 8 commercially available ABHR products, the WHO hand-rub formulation, (P1–P9) and a nonantibacterial foam handwash control (P10) on human participants at 2 different application frequencies (“1 application” and “10 applications”) using 2 different ASTM test methods (E1174 and E2755). Studies using ASTM-E1174 evaluated 3 different application volumes (0.7 mL, 1.1 mL, and 2.0 mL) of the 10 products, each tested on 12–13 subjects. Studies using ASTM-E2755 evaluated a single 1.1 mL volume for the 9 ABHR products (P1–P9), each on 2–12 subjects. A linear mixed-effects model was fit separately to log reductions with random effects for subject and date, and a fixed effect for product. Results: Four different foam formulations (P1–P4) consistently outperformed all other formulations by the E1174 method, especially with increasing volumes and after 10 product applications (Fig. 1). When tested with E2755, all formulations performed similarly, with only P1 and P2 differentiating after 10 applications (Fig. 2). ABHR efficacy consistently increased with larger application volumes, whereas the handwash control (P10) achieved a similar efficacy (∼2 log reduction) at all volumes. Efficacy for some ABHR formulations increased, whereas others decreased with repeated applications. Alcohol concentration did not correlate with log reduction. Conclusions: Formulation and the product application volume affect the antimicrobial efficacy of ABHR; therefore, those data should be critically assessed by healthcare personnel assessing ABHR product performance. Test methods matter: when E1174 was used, greater differentiation between formulations was observed. This may be due to the larger contamination volume and greater soil load used in E1174.

Funding: GOJO Industries, Inc., provided Funding: for this study.

Disclosures: James W. Arbogast and David R. Macinga report salary from GOJO Industries.

Background: Although standard precautions are considered a building block in the prevention of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and bloodborne pathogen (BBP) exposures, little is known about the rate of adherence to standard precautions among healthcare workers in US acute-care hospitals and the processes used for measurement and surveillance. Methods: We evaluated the development and usability of electronic platforms to collect standard precautions surveillance data in support of the Simulation to Improve Infection Prevention and Patient Safety (SIPPS) Trial. SIPPS is a 5-year group-randomized group-interventional study to develop and test a simulation intervention to improve provider performance of standard precautions and prevent HAIs and occupational BBP exposures. In the pilot study, standard precautions adherence data were collected and validated using the Standard Precautions Observational Tool (SPOT) in a paper format. Adherence was measured using 10 indicators across the categories of hand hygiene, personal protective equipment, linen handling, and sharps disposal. The SPOT allows users to observe healthcare workers providing routine care and to record when an SP action is indicated and whether it was completed or missed. The data did not contain personally identifiable information or protected health information. The aim of this project was to design an electronic version of the SPOT that is simple and affordable to create, allows for rapid and structured data collection, and can be disseminated for broad standardization of standard precautions surveillance. Results: Three electronic platforms, including 2 survey-based platforms (Qualtrics and REDCap) and 1 website-based platform (Google), were evaluated for the following characteristics: (1) design interface, (2) customizability, (3) data entry speed, (4) accessibility, and (5) total cost. Both survey platforms performed well in design interface, allowing for a no- or low-code design and offered mobile-friendly formats. Rigid survey formats created obstacles in customization and rapid data collection, involving large amounts of scrolling or screen advancement. Survey-based platforms also required a subscription or access fee. Conversely, the website-based platform had a more challenging design interface but was easily customizable with low-level knowledge of hypertext mark-up language (HTML) and application programming interface deployment. The website platform allowed for a single screen view, mobile-phone–friendly design, and rapid data collection. It was developed using freely available resources. Conclusions: A website-based HTML form allows for faster data collection and a higher level of customization than survey-based platforms and can be designed and implemented free of cost using minimal web-development skills. This surveillance methodology will be field tested for fidelity of implementation and for broad use in surveillance.

Funding: The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality provided Funding: for this study (grant no. 1R18HS026418).

Disclosures: Amanda Hessels reports that she is the primary investigator for the studies titled “Impact of Patient Safety Climate on Infection Prevention Practices and Healthcare Worker and Patient Outcomes” (grant no. DHHS/CDC/NIOSH 1K01OH011186 to Columbia University) and “Simulation to Improve Infection Prevention and Patient Safety: The SIPPS Trial (AHRQ grant no. R18: 1R18HS026418 to Columbia University)

Background: Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) is well established as a high-resolution method for measuring bacterial relatedness to better understand infection transmission in cases of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). However, sequencing is still rarely used in HAI investigations due to a lack of access to computational analysis platforms with actionable turnaround times. Single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis is typically used to determine bacterial relatedness. However, SNP-based methods often require a suite of bioinformatics tools that can be difficult to use and interpret without the expertise of a trained computational biologist. These obstacles become more significant in the case of prospective, real-time surveillance of HAIs, which can require the analysis of a large number of isolates. To enable the use of WGS for proactive determination of infection outbreaks, a rapid, automated method that can scale to large data sets is needed. Methods: Here, we demonstrate the capabilities of ksim, a novel automated algorithm to determine the clonality of bacterial samples using WGS. ksim measures the number of shared kmers (genomic subsequences of length k) between bacterial samples to determine their relatedness. ksim also filters out accessory genomic regions, such as plasmids, that can confound genetic relatedness estimates. We benchmarked the accuracy and speed of ksim relative to an SNP-based pipeline on simulated data sets (with sequencing reads generated in silico) and on 9 clinical-cluster data sets (6 publicly available and 3 real-time data sets from Massachusetts General Hospital [MGH]). We also used ksim to determine the relatedness of >5,000 historical clinical bacterial isolates from MGH, collected between 2015 and 2019. Results: ksim first preprocesses raw sequencing data to generate a common data structure, after which it computes the genomic distance between bacterial samples in ∼0.2 seconds in simple cases and in ∼4 seconds in complex cases when accessory genome filtering is required. In simulations across 5 species, ksim determined clonality (defined as <40 SNPs) with high accuracy (sensitivity, 99.7% and specificity, 99.6%). ksim performance on 9 clinical HAI data sets demonstrated its sensitivity (99.4%) and specificity (90.8%) compared to an SNP-based pipeline. ksim efficiently analyzed >5,000 clinical samples from MGH and found previously unidentified transmission clusters. Conclusions:ksim shows promise for rapid clonality determination in HAI outbreaks and has the potential to scale to tens of thousands of samples. This method could enable infection control teams to use WGS for prospective outbreak detection via an automated computational pipeline without the need for specialized computational biology training.

Funding: Day Zero Diagnostics and the NIH provided Funding: for this study.

Disclosures: Mohamad Sater reports salary from Day Zero Diagnostics.