According to a study recently shared by Becker’s Hospital Review, antibiotics were overprescribed during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers from the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Antibiotic Resistance Project reviewed electronic health records for 4,980 patients hospitalized between February 1, 2020 and July 31, 2020. An analysis was completed to determine the occurrence of bacterial infections and prevalence of antibiotic prescriptions in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
The analysis revealed that a majority of hospitalized COVID-19 patients received an antibiotic prescription without having a bacterial infection. Key findings show that 52% of hospitalized patients received at least one antibiotic prescription while only 20% of patients were diagnosed with a bacterial infection. In addition, 96% of patients received an antibiotic at the time of admission or within 48 hours.
Rachel Zetts, Pew’s antibiotic resistance project and study co-author, stated “our data shows there was likely a significant amount of unnecessary antibiotic prescribing among hospitalized COVID-19 patients” and that “lack of guidance on treatment during earlier stages of the pandemic may have been a factor in the overuse of antibiotics.” Because the overprescribing of antibiotics could have a negative impact on efforts made to reduce resistance, Ms. Zetts hopes to see antibiotic stewardship programs put in place to help improve patient care and preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics.
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