Yesterday in JAMA, researchers analyzed data from the Pennington Biomedical Research Center and Woman's Hospital in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to show that more women exceeded the recommended gestational weight gain (GWG) during the pandemic.

The hospital, the largest in Louisiana, attended to 23,000 deliveries from March 2019 to March 2022. Of women included in the study, 38% were Black, 51.2% were white, and the mean maternal age was 28.9 years.

After the pandemic began, pregnant women were 3% to 7% more likely to exceed the recommended GWG, seen in 45.4% of pregnant women in 2021, at the peak of the pandemic, and 44.0% later in the pandemic. To compare, only 42.0% of women in 2019 exceeded weight-gain recommendations.

Women started pregnancy heavier later in pandemic

For women who delivered toward the end of the study period (March 13, 2021, to March 12, 2022) GWG mirrored prepandemic numbers, but women began pregnancy slightly heavier than before the pandemic. The average for starting weight was higher by 0.82 kilograms (roughly 2 pounds) compared to prepandemic weight.

"The pandemic had a wide-reaching impact, beyond the spread of the virus itself, and the resulting increase in gestational weight gain may present further indirect impacts of the virus into the future for women and babies," said Leanne Redman, MD, the associate executive director for scientific education at Pennington Biomedical and Professor of Reproductive Endocrinology & Women's Health, in a Pennington press release.

The resulting increase in gestational weight gain may present further indirect impacts of the virus into the future for women and babies.

Excessive GWG, even by 5 pounds, can lead to an increased risk for cardiovascular disease in mothers and increase the likelihood of lifelong obesity in the child.

A systematic review and meta-analysis found that room disinfection with ultraviolet-C (UV-C) devices had little impact on the incidence of healthcare-associated multidrug-resistant organism (MDRO) infections, researchers reported today in Epidemiology & Infection. 

The study, conducted by Chinese researchers, analyzed nine previously studies that examined the impact of UV-C devices on the incidence of Clostridioides difficile, vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and gram-negative rod-shaped bacteria. While healthcare settings typically use a wide range of chemical disinfectants to prevent and control the spread of these organisms on surfaces in patients' rooms, which are highly susceptible to MDRO contamination, additional cleaning with no-touch technologies like ultraviolet light has shown some potential to further reduce incidence. The nine studies all examined use of UV-C disinfection systems.

We found no advantages for the use of UV-C in healthcare settings as an adjunct to conventional infection prevention modalities.

Pooled analysis indicated no statistically significant reduction in C difficile (incidence rate ratio [IRR], 0.90; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.62 to 1.32) or VRE (IRR, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.38 to 1.78) infection rates with the use of UV-C disinfection systems. The risk of gram-negative rod infection was reduced (IRR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.68 to 0.99), but the studies reporting this outcome were few.

"We found no advantages for the use of UV-C in healthcare settings as an adjunct to conventional infection prevention modalities to reduce the incidence of MDRO," the study authors wrote.

In its latest arbovirus surveillance report, the Florida Department of Health (Florida Health) reported one more locally acquired dengue cases and a second infection involving eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) virus. The report covers the epidemiologic week ending August 26.

The dengue case is in Miami-Dade County, where most previous cases have been from. The new illness raises the total for the year to 16. Florida often reports sporadic local dengue infections, and Florida Health has noted that infected travelers can pass the virus to local mosquito populations.

In other mosquito-borne illness developments, Florida health reported its second EEE case of the year, which involves a person from Suwannee County, which is located in the north-central part of the state. The first EEE case of the year was reported in a patient from St Johns County, home to St Augustine. Florida typically reports one or two human EEE cases each year.