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Impact of COVID-19 on Antimicrobial Consumption and Spread of Multidrug-Resistance in Bacterial Infections

Kibum Jeon1, Seri Jeong2, Nuri Lee2

  • 1Department of Laboratory Medicine, Hallym University Hangang Sacred Heart Hospital, Seoul 07247, Korea.

Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland)
|April 23, 2022
PubMed

Insights

The COVID-19 pandemic increased antibiotic use and the prevalence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria like MRSA, VRE, CRE, and CRPA in hospitals. These changes highlight the pandemic's impact on antimicrobial resistance.

Area of Science:

  • Infectious Diseases
  • Microbiology
  • Public Health

Background:

  • The COVID-19 pandemic may have altered antibiotic consumption and the prevalence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria.
  • Understanding these shifts is crucial for managing antimicrobial resistance.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare antibiotic consumption and MDR bacteria prevalence during the COVID-19 pandemic versus the pre-pandemic period.
  • To assess the impact of the pandemic on key MDR pathogens including MRSA, VRE, CRE, CRAB, and CRPA.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective analysis of antibiotic usage and MDR bacteria data from hospitalized patients across four university hospitals.
  • Comparison of data from the pandemic period (March 2020–September 2021) with the pre-pandemic period (March 2018–September 2019).

Main Results:

  • Increased consumption of penicillin with β-lactamase inhibitors and carbapenems was observed during the pandemic.
  • Significant increases in the prevalence of MRSA, VRE, CRE, and CRPA in clinical samples were noted.
  • CRE prevalence also increased in surveillance samples from wards during the pandemic.

Conclusions:

  • The COVID-19 pandemic is associated with increased antibiotic consumption.
  • The pandemic has influenced the prevalence of infections caused by multidrug-resistant organisms.
Keywords:
COVID-19antibioticantimicrobial resistancemultidrug resistancepandemicprevalence

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