Is there a need to widely prescribe antibiotics in patients hospitalized with COVID-19?

BACKGROUND: Debate continues regarding the usefulness and benefits of wide prescription of antibiotics in patients hospitalized with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). METHODS: All patients hospitalized in the Infectious Diseases Department, Dijon University Hospital, Dijon, France between 27 February and 30 April 2020 with confirmed COVID-19 were included in this study. Clinical, biological and radiological data were collected, as well as treatment and outcome data. An unfavourable outcome was defined as death or transfer to the intensive care unit. Patient characteristics and outcomes were compared between patients who did and did not receive antibiotic therapy using propensity score matching. FINDINGS: Among the 222 patients included, 174 (78%) received antibiotic therapy. The univariate analysis showed that patients who received antibiotic therapy were significantly older, frailer and had more severe presentation at admission compared with patients who did not receive antibiotic therapy. Unfavourable outcomes were more common in patients who received antibiotic therapy [hazard ratio (HR) 2.94, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.07-8.11; P = 0.04]. Multi-variate analysis and propensity score matching indicated that antibiotic therapy was not significantly associated with outcome (HR 1.612, 95% CI 0.562-4.629; P = 0.37). CONCLUSION: Antibiotics were frequently prescribed in this study and this was associated with more severe presentation at admission. However, antibiotic therapy was not associated with outcome, even after adjustment. In line with recent publications, such data support the need to streamline antibiotic therapy in patients with COVID-19.

[The Germans from Hungary in the German Federal Republic. Impacts of the banishment on policy, the economy, and culture]. / Die Deutschen aus Ungarn in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Auswirkungen der Vertreibung in Politik, Wirtschaft und Kultur.

PIP: The ethnic composition of the population of the former German Federal Republic is analyzed, with a focus on the numbers of Germans who emigrated from Hungary after World War II. Consideration is given to political factors behind the migration of ethnic Germans, and the effects of this migration on politics, economy, and social life in the Federal Republic of Germany.^ieng