Multiyear environmental surveillance in a pediatric teaching hospital: association between airborne mold spores and invasive mold infections.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The utility of routine environmental sampling to monitor the airborne fungal load (AFL) in healthcare settings is uncertain.

Methods

AFL was measured by monthly cultures at a tertiary-care pediatric hospital from November 2018 through October 2023 on eleven units caring for patients at risk for invasive mold infection (IMI). Surveillance for healthcare-associated IMI was conducted for all patients in the healthcare system using locally developed definitions for possible, probable, and definite hospital-onset infections. Poisson regression was used to analyze the association between AFL and monthly IMI rates.

Results

78 cases of IMI were identified during the period of AFL monitoring. Of these, 51 infections were classified as healthcare-associated probable

SUBMITTER: Phillips B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12620064 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature