Focusing on Families and Visitors Reduces Healthcare Associated Respiratory Viral Infections in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Linam, W. Matthew; Marrero, Elizabeth M.; Honeycutt, Michele D.; Wisdom, Christy M.; Gaspar, Anna; Vijayan, Vini

Between January 2013 and March 2019, there were 74 HARVIs identified in the NICU, including 2 clusters (May 2013 and December 2014). Rhinovirus/enterovirus caused 80% of the HARVIs, and RSV caused 6%. No HARVIs were caused by influenza. The baseline rate of HARVIs in the NICU was 0.67 infections/1,000 patient days. Coinciding with an increase in FVHH to 85% in May 2017, the HARVI rate decreased to 0.23/1,000 patient-days (Fig. 2) . Figure 3 shows the monthly number of RPP tests ordered in the NICU. Test utilization remained fairly consistent over time. Figure 4 shows the monthly distribution of respiratory viruses detected by the RPP panel. We observed the typical seasonal fluctuation with peak utilization and virus detection in the winter months. Rhinovirus/enterovirus and RSV were detected most frequently (Fig. 4) . For the most part, NICU HARVIs occurred sporadically throughout the year. Etiologies paralleled the most frequently detected viruses in the hospital-wide data.