CDC report looks at hospital outbreak during surge in COVID-19 patients

A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looks at an outbreak of Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB), an antibiotic-resistant bacteria, at a New Jersey hospital managing resource shortages during a surge in COVID-19 patients.

According to the authors, CRAB cases decreased when normal operations resumed.

“Hospitals managing surges of patients with COVID-19 might be vulnerable to outbreaks of multidrug-resistant organism (MDRO) infections,” they said. “Maintaining [infection prevention and control] best practices (e.g., MDRO surveillance and hand hygiene and environmental cleaning audits) to the extent possible could mitigate spread.”