ABSTRACT
This aim of this study was to identify potential factors associated with survival in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID- 19). This study was designed as a case series. It included patients hospitalized in Clinical Centre Kragujevac between March 10, 2020, and June 15, 2020, due to COVID-19. Variables with significant influence on the cure of patients were identified by multivariate logistic regression. A total of 234 patients were included. The average age of the patients was 57.2 ± 15.8 years. Thirty-five patients died (15.0%) and 199 (85.0%) were discharged as completely cured and with the sustained virological response.The study variables with significant influence (expressed as odds ratio – OR) on cure of COVID-19 patients after adjustment for effects of other variables were: stay in an intensive care unit – ICU (OR = 0.007;95% confidence interval – CI 0.001 – 0.086;p = 0.000), previous hospitalization (OR = 7.802;95% CI 1.198 – 50.924;p = 0.032), increased body temperature on admission (OR = 0.004;95% CI 0.000 – 0.771;p = 0.040), higher score of the Charlson Comorbidity Index (OR = 0.428;95% CI 0.235 – 0.780;p = 0.006), and increased values of C-reactive protein (CRP) serum level (OR = 0.978;95% CI 0.966 – 0.990;p = 0.000). In conclusion, clinicians should pay attention to patients with high body temperature at admission, presence of multiple comorbidities, high CRP, and patients who stay in an ICU, considering that they could be at risk for fatal outcome. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Serbian Journal of Experimental & Clinical Research is the property of Sciendo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)
ABSTRACT
Studies suggest that the incidence of coinfections in patients with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is low, but a large number of patients receive antimicrobials during hospitalisation. This may fuel a rise in antimicrobial resistance (AMR). We conducted a multicentre point-prevalence survey in seven tertiary university hospitals (in medical wards and intensive care units) in Croatia, Italy, Serbia and Slovenia. Of 988 COVID-19 patients, 521 were receiving antibiotics and/or antifungals (52.7%; range across hospitals: 32.9-85.6%) on the day of the study. Differences between hospitals were statistically significant (χ2 (6, N = 988) = 192.57, p < 0.001). The majority of patients received antibiotics and/or antifungals within 48 h of admission (323/521, 62%; range across hospitals: 17.4-100%), their most common use was empirical (79.4% of prescriptions), and pneumonia was the main indication for starting the treatment (three-quarters of prescriptions). The majority of antibiotics prescribed (69.9%) belonged to the "Watch" group of the World Health Organization AWaRe classification. The pattern of antimicrobial use differed across hospitals. The data show that early empiric use of broad-spectrum antibiotics is common in COVID-19 patients, and that the pattern of antimicrobial use varies across hospitals. Judicious use of antimicrobials is warranted to prevent an increase in AMR.