Antibiotic Use and Bacterial Infection in COVID-19 Patients in the Second Phase of the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: A Scoping Review
Wenjuan Cong,
Beth Stuart,
Nour AIhusein,
Binjuan Liu,
Yunyi Tang,
Hexing Wang,
Yi Wang,
Amit Manchundiya,
Helen Lambert
Affiliations
Wenjuan Cong
Department of Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, 39 Whatley Road, Bristol BS8 2PS, UK
Beth Stuart
Centre for Evaluation and Methods, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Queen Mary University of London, Yvonne Carter Building, 58 Turner Street, London E1 2AB, UK
Nour AIhusein
Department of Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, 39 Whatley Road, Bristol BS8 2PS, UK
Binjuan Liu
Department of Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, 39 Whatley Road, Bristol BS8 2PS, UK
Yunyi Tang
Department of Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, 39 Whatley Road, Bristol BS8 2PS, UK
Hexing Wang
Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety of Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Fudan University, 130 Dongan Road, Shanghai 200243, China
Yi Wang
Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety of Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Fudan University, 130 Dongan Road, Shanghai 200243, China
Amit Manchundiya
Department of Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, 39 Whatley Road, Bristol BS8 2PS, UK
Helen Lambert
Department of Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, 39 Whatley Road, Bristol BS8 2PS, UK
This scoping review aimed to explore the prevalence and patterns of global antibiotic use and bacterial infection in COVID-19 patients from studies published between June 2020 and March 2021. This review was reported in line with the Preferred Reporting of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) extension for Scoping Reviews, and the protocol is registered with the Open Science Framework. Compared with our previously-published review of the period (December 2019–June 2020), the antibiotic prescribing rate for COVID-19 patients (June 2020–March 2021) was found to have declined overall (82.3% vs. 39.7%), for mild and moderate patients (75.1% vs. 15.5%), and for severe and critical patients (75.3% vs. 48.3%). The seven most frequently prescribed antibiotics in COVID-19 patients were all on the “Watch” list of the WHO AWaRe antibiotics classification. The overall reported bacterial infection rate in COVID-19 patients was 10.5%, and the most frequently reported resistant pathogen in COVID-19 patients was Staphylococcus aureus, followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, and Klebsiella pneumoniae. There is an urgent need to establish comprehensive and consistent guidelines to assist clinicians in selecting appropriate antibiotics for COVID-19 patients when needed. The resistance data on the most frequently used antibiotics for COVID-19 patients for certain resistant pathogens should be closely monitored.
