Abstract
Introduction
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) has infected over 212,000,000 individuals worldwide with a mortality rate of 2.1% as of August 2021. A concerning trend in the treatment of COVID‐19 has emerged wherein hospitalized patients are administered broad spectrum antibiotics to stave off secondary bacterial infection. However, the clinical justification for the use of broad‐spectrum antibiotics for viral respiratory infection remains tenuous. Over administration of these therapies contributes to the growing frequency of antimicrobial resistance, which prior to the pandemic contributed to nearly 700,000 death per year.
Objective
To describe the clinical utilization and efficacy of broad‐spectrum antibiotics among hospitalized patients with SARS‐CoV‐2 within 3 hospital systems in the American southwest.
Methods
A multisite retrospective chart review of patients admitted to inpatient care due SARS‐CoV‐2 infection from March 1st, 2020 through January 31st, 2021 was conducted. ed data included patient demographics, laboratory culture results, administered antibiotics, and patient outcomes. Analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics, the Pearson chi‐square for categorical data, and the Mann‐Whitney U test for continuous data.
Results
A total of 489 patients with confirmed SARS‐CoV‐2 infection via nasopharyngeal sample were included in the analysis with 19.2% (94/489) diagnosed with a concurrent bacterial infection. Patients with concurrent bacterial infections were more likely to require critical care (50.0% vs 20.7%; p<0.001) and expire (28.7% vs 14.4%; p<0.001) while hospitalized. Though the rates of secondary bacterial infection were low, 83.4% of all patients were administered at least one broad spectrum antibiotic, with the most common being Azithromycin (60%; 297/489) followed by Ceftriaxone (46.6%; 228/489). Antibiotics were not preferentially administered to patients with concurrent bacterial infection (p=0.1619), nor did it show clinical efficacy for reducing mortality among the entire sample (p=0.190) or those with secondary infection (p=0.191).
Conclusion
The COVID‐19 pandemic has contributed to non‐specific over administration of broad‐spectrum antibiotics, which failed to improve the rate of patient mortality even when afflicted with secondary infection. Over‐administration of these drugs will continue to exacerbate the growing rates of antimicrobial resistance. Clinicians are recommended to apply early empirical approaches when selecting to employ antibiotic therapies.