Transfer from high-acuity long-term care facilities is associated with carriage of Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae: a multihospital study.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether transfer from a long-term care facility (LTCF) is a risk factor for colonization with Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC)-producing Enterobacteriaceae upon acute care hospital admission.

DESIGN: Microbiologic survey and nested case-control study.

SETTING: Four hospitals in a metropolitan area (Chicago) with an early KPC epidemic.

PATIENTS: Hospitalized adults.

METHODS: Patients transferred from LTCFs were matched 1∶1 to patients admitted from the community by age (± 10 years), admitting clinical service, and admission date (± 2 weeks). Rectal swab specimens were collected within 3 days after admission and tested for KPC-producing Enterobacteriaceae. Demographic and clinical information was extracted from medical records.

RESULTS: One hundred eighty patients from LTCFs were matched to 180 community patients. KPC-producing Enterobacteriaceae colonization was detected in 15 (8.3%) of the LTCF patients and 0 (0%) of the community patients ([Formula: see text]). Prevalence of carriage differed by LTCF subtype: 2 of 135 (1.5%) patients from skilled nursing facilities without ventilator care (SNFs) were colonized upon admission, compared to 9 of 33 (27.3%) patients from skilled nursing facilities with ventilator care (VSNFs) and 4 of 12 (33.3%) patients from long-term acute care hospitals (LTACHs; [Formula: see text]). In a multivariable logistic regression model adjusted for a propensity score that predicted LTCF subtype, patients admitted from VSNFs or LTACHs had 7.0-fold greater odds of colonization (ie, odds ratio; 95% confidence interval, 1.3-42; [Formula: see text]) with KPC-producing Enterobacteriaceae than patients from an SNF.

CONCLUSIONS: Patients admitted to acute care hospitals from high-acuity LTCFs (ie, VSNFs and LTACHs) were more likely to be colonized with KPC-producing Enterobacteriaceae than were patients admitted from the community. Identification of healthcare facilities with a high prevalence of colonized patients presents an opportunity for focused interventions that may aid regional control efforts.