{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]],"date-time":"2026-09-07T19:20:46Z","timestamp":1788808846556,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,20]],"date-time":"2026-05-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1779235200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalization","award":["2302101"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2302101"]}]},{"name":"Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalization","award":["7N\/2022"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["7N\/2022"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Medicina"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background and Objectives: Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) remain a major cause of morbidity and mortality among hospitalized patients. During the COVID-19 pandemic, SARS-CoV-2 infection emerged as a major contributor to HAIs, alongside Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) and other bacterial infections. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical characteristics and outcomes of HAIs in surgical departments and to identify factors associated with in-hospital mortality. Materials and Methods: We conducted a retrospective observational study including 170 patients with documented HAIs admitted between July 2018 and June 2022 in surgical departments of a county emergency hospital. Patients were categorized into SARS-CoV-2 infection (n = 85), CDI (n = 73), and other bacterial infections (n = 12), the latter being included for descriptive purposes only due to limited sample size. Clinical variables, comorbidities, prior antibiotic exposure, length of hospital stay, and in-hospital mortality were analyzed. Survival analysis and logistic regression were performed to identify predictors of mortality. Results: SARS-CoV-2 infection represented the largest subgroup, followed by CDI. Overall, in-hospital mortality was 15.9%, with comparable rates between SARS-CoV-2 infection (17.6%) and CDI (16.4%), while no deaths were observed in the small subgroup of other bacterial infections. CDI patients had a significantly higher burden of comorbidities (p = 0.004). Kaplan\u2013Meier analysis did not show a statistically significant difference in survival between SARS-CoV-2 and CDI groups (log-rank p = 0.28). In univariate analysis, acute respiratory failure (OR \u2248 13.5, p &lt; 0.001), chronic kidney disease (OR \u2248 4.4, p = 0.018), and number of comorbidities (p = 0.019) were associated with mortality, but none remained significant in multivariable analysis. Conclusions: In-hospital mortality was similar between SARS-CoV-2 infection and CDI, highlighting the persistent clinical impact of CDI in hospitalized patients. Comorbidity burden and acute complications, particularly respiratory failure, were key determinants of mortality. These findings highlight the persistent clinical impact of CDI and the role of comorbidity burden and acute complications, particularly respiratory failure, in shaping in-hospital mortality. The absence of independent predictors in multivariable analysis should be interpreted cautiously given the limited sample size.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/medicina62050995","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,27]],"date-time":"2026-05-27T10:19:52Z","timestamp":1779877192000},"page":"995","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Clinical Outcomes and Risk Factors of Healthcare-Associated Infections in Surgical Wards: A Retrospective Cohort Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"62","author":[{"given":"Andreea Mihaela","family":"Sandu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Doctoral School, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Eroii Sanitari 8, District 5, 050474 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"The County Emergency Hospital, Aleea Spitalului 36, 110283 Pite\u0219ti, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Corneliu Ovidiu","family":"Vrancianu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Doctoral School, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Eroii Sanitari 8, District 5, 050474 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"National Institute of Research and Development for Biological Sciences, 296 Splaiul Independentei, District 6, 060031 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The Research Institute of the University of Bucharest, ICUB, \u0218oseaua Panduri 90, District 5, 050663 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marian","family":"Necula","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Institute of Research and Development for Biological Sciences, 296 Splaiul Independentei, District 6, 060031 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"Faculty of Administration and Business, University of Bucharest, Regina Elisabeta 4-12, 030167 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Roxana-Elena","family":"Cristian","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Institute of Research and Development for Biological Sciences, 296 Splaiul Independentei, District 6, 060031 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The Research Institute of the University of Bucharest, ICUB, \u0218oseaua Panduri 90, District 5, 050663 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ana-Catalina","family":"Tantu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Doctoral School, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Petru Rare\u0219 2, 200349 Craiova, Romania"},{"name":"Emergency Clinical County Hospital of Bucharest, Calea Floreasca 8, 014461 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alina","family":"P\u0103unescu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Natural Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, Physical Education and Informatics, National University of Science and Technology POLITEHNICA Bucharest, Pite\u0219ti University Center, Targu din Vale Street 1, 110040 Pitesti, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Daniel","family":"Diaconescu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Assistance and Physical Therapy, Faculty of Sciences, Physical Education and Informatics, National University of Science and Technology POLITEHNICA Bucharest, Pite\u0219ti University Center, Targu din Vale Street 1, 110040 Pitesti, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1038-7953","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Monica Marilena","family":"Tantu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Assistance and Physical Therapy, Faculty of Sciences, Physical Education and Informatics, National University of Science and Technology POLITEHNICA Bucharest, Pite\u0219ti University Center, Targu din Vale Street 1, 110040 Pitesti, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1199","DOI":"10.1016\/S1473-3099(25)00217-8","article-title":"Incidence of health-care-associated infections in long-term care facilities in nine European countries: A 12-month, prospective, longitudinal cohort study","volume":"25","author":"Ricchizzi","year":"2025","journal-title":"Lancet Infect. 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