The Change in Healthcare-Associated Infections in Intensive Care Units Associated with the Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Taiwan

<i>Background and Objectives</i>: Changes in the incidence of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and during periods with fewer or more COVID-19 cases have been inconclusively studied. Compared with 2015, in 2019, the abundances of the microorganisms <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i> and <i>Enterococcus faecium</i> increased in intensive care units (ICUs) in Taiwan. The trend in the incidence of HAIs in ICUs in Taiwan during the emergence of new infectious diseases is worth studying. <i>Materials and Methods</i>: We surveyed the incidence densities of different types of HAIs, device-associated HAIs, pathogens, and antimicrobial resistance in a dataset from the Taiwan Healthcare-associated Infection and Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System from 2015 to 2022. The change in incidence density trends was evaluated via Poisson regression, and the change in proportion trends was checked via the Mantel-Haenszel chi-square test. <i>Results</i>: The incidence of HAIs decreased from 5.7 to 5.17 episodes per 1000 person-days from the pre-COVID-19 period to the post-COVID-19 period. The incidences of healthcare-acquired pneumonia (HAP), device-associated HAIs decreased. However, the incidences of bloodstream infections (BSIs) increased. The percentages of patients with <i>Escherichia coli</i>, <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i>, <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i>, and <i>Acinetobacter baumannii</i> infections significantly decreased. The percentage of patients with methicillin-resistant <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> (MRSA) infection decreased, but that of patients with carbapenem-resistant <i>K. pneumoniae</i> (CRKP), carbapenem-resistant <i>Acinetobacter baumannii</i> (CRAB), carbapenem-resistant <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i>, and vancomycin-resistant <i>Enterococcus faecium</i> infections increased. The antimicrobial consumption related to CRKP increased and MRSA decreased. <i>Conclusions</i>: Overall, HAIs, HAP, and VAP decreased in incidence after the COVID-19 pandemic. These results revealed decreases in MRSA infection incidence under infection control protocols with more antimicrobial use. However, the proportion of CRKP among HAIs increased with broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent use. Based on the recent incidence of HAIs in ICUs, the quality of infection control in medical units can be enhanced to decrease HAI incidence.