Hospital-acquired respiratory viral infections while applying droplet precautions on-site (DroPS) - prospective observation during the 2019/20 influenza season, Bern, Switzerland

Michèle Birrer; Katrien Draps; Fabienne Hobi; Marianne Laguardia; Eveline Hofmann; Martin Luginbühl; Martin Perrig; Drahomir Aujesky; Jonas Marschall; Rami Sommerstein

doi:10.1016/j.infpip.2024.100386

Hospital-acquired respiratory viral infections while applying droplet precautions on-site (DroPS) - prospective observation during the 2019/20 influenza season, Bern, Switzerland

Infect Prev Pract. 2024 Jul 26;6(3):100386. doi: 10.1016/j.infpip.2024.100386. eCollection 2024 Sep.

Authors

Michèle Birrer^{1

2}, Katrien Draps¹, Fabienne Hobi¹, Marianne Laguardia¹, Eveline Hofmann¹, Martin Luginbühl³, Martin Perrig⁴, Drahomir Aujesky⁴, Jonas Marschall^{1

5}, Rami Sommerstein^{1

6}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Infectious Diseases, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, Bern, Switzerland.
² Department of General Internal Medicine / Infectious Diseases, Hôpital du Jura, Delémont, Switzerland.
³ Medical Director, Tiefenauspital, Bern, Switzerland.
⁴ Department of General Internal Medicine, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, Bern, Switzerland.
⁵ Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, United States.
⁶ Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, University of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland.

Abstract

Single room isolation for respiratory viral infections (RVI), like influenza, puts hospitals under pressure. During the influenza season 2019/20, we implemented Droplet precautions on-site (DroPS) for RVI in two acute care hospitals and prospectively assessed the rate of hospital-acquired RVI (HARVI). 318 patients were admitted with RVI, 85 had Influenza or RSV, 75 stayed in multi-bed rooms with DroPS. From 764 patients at risk, hospitalised ≥ three days in a multi-bed room, 11 (1.4%) developed a clinical HARVI, and three tested positive (3/764, 0.4%; 2x RSV, 1x influenza). DroPS may represent an alternative strategy to deal with respiratory viral infections.

Keywords: Droplet precautions; Hospital-acquired infection; Infection prevention; Influenza; Respiratory precautions; Respiratory viral infection.