1. Why are we conducting the COVID19-ITS-KISS study?

From reports from ITS-KISS participants and from our own observations, we know that the risk of bacterial co-infections (superinfections), fungal infections and multi-resistant pathogens (MRP) appears to be increased in COVID-19 patients compared to other ITS patients. However, there is no reliable data regarding this. So far, such infectious complications in COVID-19 ITS patients could not be used in a suitable form to draw conclusions about the efficiency of infection prevention measures. This is because they predominantly do not appear as new infections, but as pathogen switches in infections brought along. Some ITS-KISS participants have already approached us with the request to be able to record these cases in ITS-KISS as well.

We have therefore developed a surveillance component (COVID19-ITS-KISS) that can also be used to record such co-infections and MRE in COVID-19 patients receiving intensive care. The data is collected via the ‘webKess’ surveillance platform, which is standard practice in KISS. The risk of co-infection and MRE in COVID-19 patients can therefore be documented and compared in a standardised and stratified manner. The data is then available for your internal quality management and can be used to gain insights into the efficiency of infection prevention measures.

The development and implementation of this new surveillance component specifically for COVID-19 ITS patients is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).