Prevalence of coinfections with ESKAPE pathogens in COVID-19 patients: A review

ABSTRACT

The emergence and worldwide spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is being caused by a type of coronavirus named as SARS-CoV-2, has unprecedentedly challenged the healthcare system across the globe. To add to the catastrophe brought about by this viral infectious disease, coinfections by other microbial agents including bacteria and fungi further deteriorate the health of COVID-19 patients by developing multiple dreaded diseases, resulting in extended morbidity and high rate of mortality all over the world. There are a number of multidrug resistant bacterial species which cause these coinfections both in community environments and hospital set ups including in the ICUs. Among the multidrug resistant bacterial species that are responsible for tens of thousands of deaths per annum around the globe, the infectious diseases society of America (IDSA) has shortlisted and the world health organization (WHO) has recognized the importance of the most dangerous 'bad bugs' dubbed as 'ESKAPE' pathogens and the members are Enterococcus faecium (E), Staphylococcus aureus (S), Klebsiella pneumoniae (K), Acinetobacter baumannii (A), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P) and Enterobacter species and Escherichia colt (E). Each one of the above mentioned bacterium has many MDR strains and complex antimicrobial resistance mechanisms. In this review, I try to find out the reported prevalence of these pathogens in COVID-19 patients admitted to various healthcare facilities across the world.