Viral Respiratory Infections Diagnosed After PICU Admission

Objectives: Reduction of nosocomial infections represents an increasingly recognized aspect of PICU benchmarking. We investigated the prevalence and outcomes of viral respiratory infections acquired during admission to PICU. Design: Multicenter, statewide retrospective linkage study. Setting: Tertiary PICU. Patients: All children less than 16 years requiring PICU admission for greater than 48 hours from January 1, 2008, until December 31, 2013. Intervention: Testing was performed in symptomatic patients using an extended panel polymerase chain reaction capturing nine respiratory viruses. Duration of intubation and total duration of respiratory support were primary outcomes. Measurements and Main Results: Of 3,607 patients admitted to PICU for greater than 48 hours, 102 (2.8%) were diagnosed with a PICU-associated viral infection out of 702 patients (19.4%) undergoing viral testing, reflecting a rate of 2.8 PICU-associated viral infections per 1,000 PICU patient days. Compared with negative/untested patients, those with PICU-associated viral infections had greater intubation duration (median 164 vs 67; p

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