The EC-COMPASS: Long-term, Multi-Centre Surveillance of Enterobacter cloacae complex – a Clinical Perspective

Background Enterobacter cloacae complex (ECCO) comprises closely related Enterobacteriaceae, causing a variety of infections ranging from mild urinary tract infections to severe bloodstream infections. ECCO has emerged as a significant cause of healthcare-associated infections, particularly in neonatal and adult intensive care. Aim The Enterobacter Cloacae COMplex PASsive Surveillance (EC-COMPASS) aims to provide a detailed multicentre overview of ECCO epidemiology and resistance patterns detected in routine microbiological diagnostics in four German tertiary care hospitals. Methods : In a sentinel cluster of four German tertiary care hospitals, all culture-positive ECCO results between January 01, 2020, and December 31, 2022, were analysed based on Hybase® laboratory data. Findings Analysis of 31,193 ECCO datasets from 14,311 patients revealed a higher incidence in male patients (p<0.05), although no significant differences were observed in ECCO infection phenotypes. The most common sources of ECCO were swabs (42.7%), urine (17.5%), respiratory secretions (16.1%), blood cultures (8.9%), and tissue samples (5.6%). The annual bacteraemia rate remained steady at approximately 33 cases per hospital. Invasive ECCO infections were predominantly found in oncology and intensive care units. Incidences of nosocomial outbreaks were infrequent and limited in scope. Notably, resistance to carbapenems was consistently low. Conclusion : EC-COMPASS offers a profound clinical perspective on ECCO infections in German tertiary healthcare settings, highlighting elderly men in oncology and intensive care units as especially vulnerable to ECCO infections. Early detection strategies targeting at-risk patients could improve ECCO infection management.