Dhatri Kotekal’s scientific contributions

Background: Candida auris is an emerging threat to hospitalized patients and invasive disease is associated with high mortality. This study describes clinical and microbiological characteristics of nine patients identified with C. auris at Ohio State Wexner Medical Center discovered through active surveillance or clinical investigation and uses whole genome sequencing (WGS) to compare isolates. Methods: In November 2022, an active C. auris surveillance program was implemented to screen patients admitted to high-risk units (intensive care units and progressive care units). Bilateral axilla and groin swabs were obtained upon unit admission and, if positive, were submitted for C. auris polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with culture and sensitivity testing. Patients with a positive screening or clinical isolate from November 2022 to November 2023 underwent chart review for clinical characteristics, microbiologic data, and index admission information. For each isolate, DNA was extracted and WGS was performed. Core single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) variation identified from the sequence data was used to infer genetic relationships among the isolates. Results: Nine patients were identified between November 2022 and November 2023. The clinical and microbiologic characteristics are summarized in Table 1. All patients were hospitalized at various acute care facilities across the state at least once in the preceding 12 months. C. auris was determined to be present on admission for 6 patients. For 5 of these patients, it was their first interaction with our healthcare system. Three patients were not in contact isolation for >3 days before C. auris was identified. Unit wide point-prevalence screening was completed in these cases and no evidence of transmission was found. WGS showed eight of the nine isolates were related with 28 or less core SNP differences between isolates (Figure 1). One isolate (8) was genetically distinct with >45000 core SNP differences. Five isolates were highly related with a range of 4-15 SNP differences. No temporal or spatial overlap at our institution was identified among these five patients. Conclusions: The active surveillance program identified several patients colonized with C. auris in addition to those found through clinical testing. Multiple risk factors for C. auris were identified with high patient mortality (67%). Majority of the isolates were closely related without association with a known outbreak or epidemiologic link, suggesting a possible diffuse common reservoir. Next steps with surveillance in acute care and long-term care facilities will be critical for early detection to halt transmission of this organism.

Importance There is limited evidence for therapeutic options for pediatric COVID-19 outside of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). Objective To determine whether the use of steroids within 2 days of admission for non–MIS-C COVID-19 in children is associated with hospital length of stay (LOS). The secondary objective was to determine their association with intensive care unit (ICU) LOS, inflammation, and fever defervescence. Design, Setting, and Participants This cohort study analyzed data retrospectively for children (<18 years) who required hospitalization for non–MIS-C COVID-19. Data from March 2020 through September 2021 were provided by 58 hospitals in 7 countries who participate in the Society of Critical Care Medicine Discovery Viral Infection and Respiratory Illness Universal Study (VIRUS) COVID-19 registry. Exposure Administration of steroids within 2 days of admission. Main Outcomes and Measures Length of stay in the hospital and ICU. Adjustment for confounders was done by mixed linear regression and propensity score matching. Results A total of 1163 patients met inclusion criteria and had a median (IQR) age of 7 years (0.9-14.3). Almost half of all patients (601/1163, 51.7%) were male, 33.8% (392/1163) were non-Hispanic White, and 27.9% (324/1163) were Hispanic. Of the study population, 184 patients (15.8%) received steroids within 2 days of admission, and 979 (84.2%) did not receive steroids within the first 2 days. Among 1163 patients, 658 (56.5%) required respiratory support during hospitalization. Overall, patients in the steroids group were older and had greater severity of illness, and a larger proportion required respiratory and vasoactive support. On multivariable linear regression, after controlling for treatment with remdesivir within 2 days, country, race and ethnicity, obesity and comorbidity, number of abnormal inflammatory mediators, age, bacterial or viral coinfection, and disease severity according to ICU admission within first 2 days or World Health Organization ordinal scale of 4 or higher on admission, with a random intercept for the site, early steroid treatment was not significantly associated with hospital LOS (exponentiated coefficient, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.81-1.09; P = .42). Separate analyses for patients with an LOS of 2 days or longer (n = 729), those receiving respiratory support at admission (n = 286), and propensity score–matched patients also showed no significant association between steroids and LOS. Early steroid treatment was not associated with ICU LOS, fever defervescence by day 3, or normalization of inflammatory mediators. Conclusions and Relevance Steroid treatment within 2 days of hospital admission in a heterogeneous cohort of pediatric patients hospitalized for COVID-19 without MIS-C did not have a statistically significant association with hospital LOS.

Background Hospitalized patients with SARS-CoV2 develop acute kidney injury (AKI) frequently, yet gaps remain in understanding why adults seem to have higher rates compared to children. Our objectives were to evaluate the epidemiology of SARS-CoV2-related AKI across the age spectrum and determine if known risk factors such as illness severity contribute to its pattern. Methods Secondary analysis of ongoing prospective international cohort registry. AKI was defined by KDIGO-creatinine only criteria. Log-linear, logistic and generalized estimating equations assessed odds ratios (OR), risk differences (RD), and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for AKI and mortality adjusting for sex, pre-existing comorbidities, race/ethnicity, illness severity, and clustering within centers. Sensitivity analyses assessed different baseline creatinine estimators. Results Overall, among 6874 hospitalized patients, 39.6% ( n = 2719) developed AKI. There was a bimodal distribution of AKI by age with peaks in older age (≥60 years) and middle childhood (5–15 years), which persisted despite controlling for illness severity, pre-existing comorbidities, or different baseline creatinine estimators. For example, the adjusted OR of developing AKI among hospitalized patients with SARS-CoV2 was 2.74 (95% CI 1.66–4.56) for 10–15-year-olds compared to 30–35-year-olds and similarly was 2.31 (95% CI 1.71–3.12) for 70–75-year-olds, while adjusted OR dropped to 1.39 (95% CI 0.97–2.00) for 40–45-year-olds compared to 30–35-year-olds. Conclusions SARS-CoV2-related AKI is common with a bimodal age distribution that is not fully explained by known risk factors or confounders. As the pandemic turns to disproportionately impacting younger individuals, this deserves further investigation as the presence of AKI and SARS-CoV2 infection increases hospital mortality risk.

Importance Obesity, diabetes, and hypertension are common comorbidities in patients with severe COVID-19, yet little is known about the risk of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) or death in patients with COVID-19 and metabolic syndrome. Objective To determine whether metabolic syndrome is associated with an increased risk of ARDS and death from COVID-19. Design, Setting, and Participants This multicenter cohort study used data from the Society of Critical Care Medicine Discovery Viral Respiratory Illness Universal Study collected from 181 hospitals across 26 countries from February 15, 2020, to February 18, 2021. Outcomes were compared between patients with metabolic syndrome (defined as ≥3 of the following criteria: obesity, prediabetes or diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia) and a control population without metabolic syndrome. Participants included adult patients hospitalized for COVID-19 during the study period who had a completed discharge status. Data were analyzed from February 22 to October 5, 2021. Exposures Exposures were SARS-CoV-2 infection, metabolic syndrome, obesity, prediabetes or diabetes, hypertension, and/or dyslipidemia. Main Outcomes and Measures The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. Secondary outcomes included ARDS, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, need for invasive mechanical ventilation, and length of stay (LOS). Results Among 46 441 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, 29 040 patients (mean [SD] age, 61.2 [17.8] years; 13 059 [45.0%] women and 15713 [54.1%] men; 6797 Black patients [23.4%], 5325 Hispanic patients [18.3%], and 16 507 White patients [57.8%]) met inclusion criteria. A total of 5069 patients (17.5%) with metabolic syndrome were compared with 23 971 control patients (82.5%) without metabolic syndrome. In adjusted analyses, metabolic syndrome was associated with increased risk of ICU admission (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.32 [95% CI, 1.14-1.53]), invasive mechanical ventilation (aOR, 1.45 [95% CI, 1.28-1.65]), ARDS (aOR, 1.36 [95% CI, 1.12-1.66]), and mortality (aOR, 1.19 [95% CI, 1.08-1.31]) and prolonged hospital LOS (median [IQR], 8.0 [4.2-15.8] days vs 6.8 [3.4-13.0] days; P < .001) and ICU LOS (median [IQR], 7.0 [2.8-15.0] days vs 6.4 [2.7-13.0] days; P < .001). Each additional metabolic syndrome criterion was associated with increased risk of ARDS in an additive fashion (1 criterion: 1147 patients with ARDS [10.4%]; P = .83; 2 criteria: 1191 patients with ARDS [15.3%]; P < .001; 3 criteria: 817 patients with ARDS [19.3%]; P < .001; 4 criteria: 203 patients with ARDS [24.3%]; P < .001). Conclusions and Relevance These findings suggest that metabolic syndrome was associated with increased risks of ARDS and death in patients hospitalized with COVID-19. The association with ARDS was cumulative for each metabolic syndrome criteria present.

Background: The American Urologic Association’s 2019 Best Practices Statement highlights the importance of procedural and host factors in optimizing antimicrobial prophylaxis for urologic procedures. For ureteral stent removal, a procedure considered low risk, the recommendation for prophylaxis is uncertain and is dependent primarily on patient factors. We examined periprocedural practices and outcomes for both low-risk and intermediate- to high-risk patients undergoing this procedure in a county hospital. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed on all patients who underwent stent removal from January to December 2019. Patients were classified as being low risk if they met the following criteria: age 48 hours within the previous 30 days, absence of external urinary catheters, no intermittent catheterization, absence of prosthetic cardiac valves, not pregnant, and not immunocompromised. All other patients were classified as intermediate to high risk. We assessed periprocedural urine testing, antimicrobial prophylaxis, and clinical outcomes. Results: Of 158 unique patients, 84 (53%) were classified as low risk. As shown in Table 1, preprocedural urine cultures were performed in 55% of low-risk versus 69% of intermediate- to high-risk patients. For the patients for whom urine cultures were performed, cultures were positive in 22% of low-risk versus 55% of intermediate- to high-risk patients (p < .0001). All patients received antimicrobial prophylaxis, most often a single dose after the procedure. None of the low risk patients had a positive urine culture or hospitalization within 30 days post procedure. Conclusions: Overall, 53% of patients undergoing stent removal were considered low-risk hosts, yet 100% of patients received antimicrobial prophylaxis. Future studies are needed to evaluate interventions to reduce unnecessary antimicrobial prophylaxis and standardize preprocedural testing in low-risk patients undergoing stent removal. Funding: No Disclosures: None