Increasing Consumption of Antibiotics during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications for Patient Health and Emerging Anti-Microbial Resistance.
Antibiotics (Basel)
; 12(1)2022 Dec 28.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2232922
ABSTRACT
The emergence of COVID-19 infection led to the indiscriminate use of antimicrobials without knowing their efficacy in treating the disease. The gratuitous use of antibiotics for COVID-19 treatment raises concerns about the emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). In this systematic review, we performed a thorough systematic search using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines of scientific databases (Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed) to identify studies where antibiotics were prescribed to treat COVID-19 (December 2019 to December 2021). Of 970 identified studies, 130 were included in our analyses. Almost 78% of COVID-19 patients have been prescribed an antibiotic. Cephalosporins were the most prescribed (30.1% of patients) antibiotics, followed by azithromycin (26% of patients). Antibiotics were prescribed for COVID-19 patients regardless of reported severity; the overall rate of antibiotic use was similar when comparing patients with a severe or critical illness (77.4%) and patients with mild or moderate illness (76.8%). Secondary infections were mentioned in only 11 studies. We conclude that concerns related to COVID-19 and the lack of treatment strategy led to the overuse of antibiotics without proper clinical rationale. Based on our findings, we propose that antimicrobial stewardship should be retained as a priority while treating viral pandemics.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Prognostic study
/
Reviews
/
Systematic review/Meta Analysis
Language:
English
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Antibiotics12010045
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