Extended antibiotics had been frequent in hospitalized COVID-19 sufferers with and with out sepsis through the first 33 months of the pandemic, regardless of low charges of confirmed bacterial an infection, researchers reported as we speak in Antimicrobial Stewardship & Healthcare Epidemiology.
For the examine, researchers from Harvard Medical Faculty and Brigham and Ladies’s Hospital analyzed digital well being report knowledge for sufferers hospitalized for community-onset SARS-CoV-2 infections at 5 Massachusetts hospitals from March 2020 by way of November 2022. Their major goal was to explain extended antibiotic use (4 or extra days of antibiotics inside the first week following admission) in COVID-19 sufferers presenting with sepsis, which is primarily attributable to bacterial infections and sometimes handled with antibiotics however could be triggered by viral pathogens, together with SARS-CoV-2.
Extended antibiotic use stays elevated
Of the 431,017 hospitalizations through the examine interval, 21,563 (5%) had COVID-19, and 4,769/21,563 (20.5%) introduced with sepsis. Extended antibiotics had been prescribed for 48.7% of COVID-19 sufferers with sepsis and 17.1% with out sepsis, regardless of low charges of optimistic bacterial cultures on admission (15.0% vs 6.3%, respectively).
Whereas quarterly charges of extended antibiotics declined between the primary and second pandemic quarters for each sepsis (66.8% to 43.9%) and no-sepsis (31.8% to 24.4%) teams, there was no important change in extended antibiotic use from the second quarter by way of November 2022 in both group, with quarterly adjusted odds ratios of 1.02 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.99 to 1.05) and 1.01 (95% CI, 0.99 to 1.03), respectively.
The examine authors say the elevated ongoing charges of extended antibiotic prescribing for COVID-19 sufferers seemingly displays considerations about potential bacterial co-infections.
“Our findings spotlight an ongoing alternative to enhance antibiotic use in sufferers presenting with extreme respiratory viral infections,” they wrote.
