Substantial changes in infectious disease epidemiology have taken place over time. Clinical interventions have progressed, while antimicrobial resistance has become a concern. In this study, researchers evaluated the number of hospitalizations for infectious disease in the United States from 2001 to 2014. The National (Nationwide) Inpatient Sample was queried for rates of infectious disease hospitalizations, which were defined as hospitalizations with a principal discharge diagnosis of an infectious disease. Diagnoses based on infection site and sepsis as well as in-hospital death were all considered. The researchers also identified the most prevalent nonsepsis infectious disease secondary diagnoses for hospitalizations with a principal sepsis diagnosis. When adjusting for age, the mean annual infectious disease hospitalization rate per 100,000 persons was 1,468.2 (95% CI, 1,459.9–1,476.4). Infectious disease hospitalizations had a 4.22% in-hospital death rate (95% CI, 4.18–4.25%). When comparing 2001–2003 to 2012–2014, the mean annual age-adjusted infectious disease hospitalization rate increased (rate ratio, 1.05; 95% CI, 1.01–1.09), as well as the percentage of in-hospital death ((4.21% [95% CI, 4.13-4.29] to 4.30% [95% CI, 4.26-4.35]; P = 0.049). Of all infection sites and sepsis diagnoses, the lower respiratory tract diagnosis had the highest hospitalization rate, followed by sepsis. When evaluating nonsepsis infectious diseases secondary diagnoses among hospitalizations for sepsis, the most prevalent were “urinary tract infection,” “pneumonia, organism unspecified,” and “intestinal infection due to Clostridium [Clostridioides] difficile. Read more
