National surveillance of bacterial and fungal coinfection and secondary infection in COVID-19 patients in England: lessons from the first wave.

OBJECTIVES: The impact of bacterial/fungal infections on the morbidity and mortality of persons with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) remains unclear. We have investigated the incidence and impact of key bacterial/fungal infections in persons with COVID-19 in England. METHODS: We extracted laboratory-confirmed cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection (1st January 2020 to 2nd June 2020) and blood and lower-respiratory specimens positive for 24 genera/species of clinical relevance (1st January 2020 to 30th June 2020) from Public Health England's national laboratory surveillance system. We defined coinfection and secondary infection as a culture-positive key organism isolated within 1 day or 2-27 days, respectively, of the SARS-CoV-2-positive date. We described the incidence and timing of bacterial/fungal infections and compared characteristics of COVID-19 patients with and without bacterial/fungal infection. RESULTS: 1% of persons with COVID-19 (2279/223413) in England had coinfection/secondary infection, of which >65% were bloodstream infections. The most common causative organisms were Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Cases with coinfection/secondary infections were older than those without (median 70 years (IQR 58-81) versus 55 years (IQR 38-77)), and a higher percentage of cases with secondary infection were of Black or Asian ethnicity than cases without (6.7% versus 4.1%, and 9.9% versus 8.2%, respectively, p < 0.001). Age-sex-adjusted case fatality rates were higher in COVID-19 cases with a coinfection (23.0% (95%CI 18.8-27.6%)) or secondary infection (26.5% (95%CI 14.5-39.4%)) than in those without (7.6% (95%CI 7.5-7.7%)) (p < 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Coinfection/secondary bacterial/fungal infections were rare in non-hospitalized and hospitalized persons with COVID-19, varied by ethnicity and age, and were associated with higher mortality. However, the inclusion of non-hospitalized persons with asymptomatic/mild COVID-19 likely underestimated the rate of secondary bacterial/fungal infections. This should inform diagnostic testing and antibiotic prescribing strategy.

Interactions between SARS-CoV-2 and influenza, and the impact of coinfection on disease severity: a test-negative design.

BACKGROUND: The impact of SARS-CoV-2 alongside influenza is a major concern in the northern hemisphere as winter approaches. METHODS: Test data for influenza and SARS-CoV-2 from national surveillance systems between 20 January 2020 and 25 April 2020 were used to estimate influenza infection on the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. A test-negative design was used to assess the odds of SARS-CoV-2 in those who tested positive for influenza compared with those who tested negative. The severity of SARS-CoV-2 was also assessed using univariable and multivariable analyses. RESULTS: The risk of testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 was 58% lower among influenza-positive cases and patients with a coinfection had a risk of death of 5.92 (95% confidence interval: 3.21-10.91) times greater than among those with neither influenza nor SARS-CoV-2. The odds of ventilator use or death and intensive care unit admission or death were greatest among coinfected patients. CONCLUSIONS: Coinfection of these viruses could have a significant impact on morbidity, mortality and health-service demand.

Surveillance of Antibacterial Usage during the COVID-19 Pandemic in England, 2020.

Changes in antibacterial prescribing during the COVID-19 pandemic were anticipated given that the clinical features of severe respiratory infection syndrome caused by SARS-CoV-2 mirror bacterial respiratory tract infections. Antibacterial consumption was measured in items/1000 population for primary care and in Defined Daily Doses (DDDs)/1000 admissions for secondary care in England from 2015 to October 2020. Interrupted time-series analyses were conducted to evaluate the effects of the pandemic on antibacterial consumption. In the community, the rate of antibacterial items prescribed decreased further in 2020 (by an extra 1.4% per month, 95% CI: -2.3 to -0.5) compared to before COVID-19. In hospitals, the volume of antibacterial use decreased during COVID-19 overall (-12.1% compared to pre-COVID, 95% CI: -19.1 to -4.4), although the rate of usage in hospitals increased steeply in April 2020. Use of antibacterials prescribed for respiratory infections and broad-spectrum antibacterials (predominately 'Watch' antibacterials in hospitals) increased in both settings. Overall volumes of antibacterial use at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic decreased in both primary and secondary settings, although there were increases in the rate of usage in hospitals in April 2020 and in specific antibacterials. This highlights the importance of antimicrobial stewardship during pandemics to ensure appropriate prescribing and avoid negative consequences on patient outcomes and antimicrobial resistance.