A Tale of Two Pandemics: Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns of <i>Enterococcus</i> spp. in COVID-19 Era
Although the COVID-19 pandemic has held the spotlight over the past years, the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) phenomenon continues to develop in an alarming manner. The lack of strict antibiotic regulation added to the overuse of antimicrobials fueled the AMR pandemic. This paper aims to analyze and...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-02-01
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| Series: | Antibiotics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/12/2/312 |
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| author | Dan Alexandru Toc Alexandru Botan Ana Maria Cristia Botescu Vlad Dumitru Brata Ioana Alina Colosi Carmen Costache Lia Monica Junie |
| author_facet | Dan Alexandru Toc Alexandru Botan Ana Maria Cristia Botescu Vlad Dumitru Brata Ioana Alina Colosi Carmen Costache Lia Monica Junie |
| author_sort | Dan Alexandru Toc |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Although the COVID-19 pandemic has held the spotlight over the past years, the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) phenomenon continues to develop in an alarming manner. The lack of strict antibiotic regulation added to the overuse of antimicrobials fueled the AMR pandemic. This paper aims to analyze and identify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on antibiotic resistance patterns of <i>Enterococcus</i> spp. The study was designed as a retrospective observational study. <i>Enterococcus</i> spp. infections data were collected from one academic hospital in Cluj-Napoca, Romania over 18 months. A statistical analysis was performed to compare antibiotic resistance phenotypes identified. We recorded an increase in the isolation rates of <i>Enterococcus</i> spp. strains, from 26 isolates (26.53%) during Period A (November 2020–April 2021) to 42 strains (42.85%) during Period C (November 2021–April 2022). The number of strains with resistance to vancomycin increased from 8 during Period A to 17 during Period C. Of the total 36 strains with resistance to vancomycin, 25 were identified as <i>E. faecium</i>. SARS-CoV-2 patients (<i>n</i> = 29) proved to be at risk to develop an <i>E. faecium</i> co-infection (<i>n</i> = 18). We observed that strains with resistance to ampicillin (<i>n</i> = 20) and vancomycin (<i>n</i> = 15) are more often isolated from these patients. All changes identified in our study are to be considered in the light of COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the threatening AMR phenomenon in Romania. Further studies should be performed to quantify the worldwide effects of these pandemics. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T09:15:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-767295ed15eb478f8ef46ee9d995b97f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-6382 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T09:15:05Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Antibiotics |
| spelling | doaj.art-767295ed15eb478f8ef46ee9d995b97f2023-11-16T18:43:13ZengMDPI AGAntibiotics2079-63822023-02-0112231210.3390/antibiotics12020312A Tale of Two Pandemics: Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns of <i>Enterococcus</i> spp. in COVID-19 EraDan Alexandru Toc0Alexandru Botan1Ana Maria Cristia Botescu2Vlad Dumitru Brata3Ioana Alina Colosi4Carmen Costache5Lia Monica Junie6Department of Microbiology, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 8 Victor Babeș Street, 400000 Cluj-Napoca, RomaniaFaculty of Medicine, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 8 Victor Babeș Street, 400000 Cluj-Napoca, RomaniaFaculty of Medicine, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 8 Victor Babeș Street, 400000 Cluj-Napoca, RomaniaFaculty of Medicine, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 8 Victor Babeș Street, 400000 Cluj-Napoca, RomaniaDepartment of Microbiology, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 8 Victor Babeș Street, 400000 Cluj-Napoca, RomaniaDepartment of Microbiology, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 8 Victor Babeș Street, 400000 Cluj-Napoca, RomaniaDepartment of Microbiology, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 8 Victor Babeș Street, 400000 Cluj-Napoca, RomaniaAlthough the COVID-19 pandemic has held the spotlight over the past years, the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) phenomenon continues to develop in an alarming manner. The lack of strict antibiotic regulation added to the overuse of antimicrobials fueled the AMR pandemic. This paper aims to analyze and identify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on antibiotic resistance patterns of <i>Enterococcus</i> spp. The study was designed as a retrospective observational study. <i>Enterococcus</i> spp. infections data were collected from one academic hospital in Cluj-Napoca, Romania over 18 months. A statistical analysis was performed to compare antibiotic resistance phenotypes identified. We recorded an increase in the isolation rates of <i>Enterococcus</i> spp. strains, from 26 isolates (26.53%) during Period A (November 2020–April 2021) to 42 strains (42.85%) during Period C (November 2021–April 2022). The number of strains with resistance to vancomycin increased from 8 during Period A to 17 during Period C. Of the total 36 strains with resistance to vancomycin, 25 were identified as <i>E. faecium</i>. SARS-CoV-2 patients (<i>n</i> = 29) proved to be at risk to develop an <i>E. faecium</i> co-infection (<i>n</i> = 18). We observed that strains with resistance to ampicillin (<i>n</i> = 20) and vancomycin (<i>n</i> = 15) are more often isolated from these patients. All changes identified in our study are to be considered in the light of COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the threatening AMR phenomenon in Romania. Further studies should be performed to quantify the worldwide effects of these pandemics.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/12/2/312<i>Enterococcus</i>COVID-19antimicrobial resistancepandemic |
| spellingShingle | Dan Alexandru Toc Alexandru Botan Ana Maria Cristia Botescu Vlad Dumitru Brata Ioana Alina Colosi Carmen Costache Lia Monica Junie A Tale of Two Pandemics: Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns of <i>Enterococcus</i> spp. in COVID-19 Era Antibiotics <i>Enterococcus</i> COVID-19 antimicrobial resistance pandemic |
| title | A Tale of Two Pandemics: Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns of <i>Enterococcus</i> spp. in COVID-19 Era |
| title_full | A Tale of Two Pandemics: Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns of <i>Enterococcus</i> spp. in COVID-19 Era |
| title_fullStr | A Tale of Two Pandemics: Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns of <i>Enterococcus</i> spp. in COVID-19 Era |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Tale of Two Pandemics: Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns of <i>Enterococcus</i> spp. in COVID-19 Era |
| title_short | A Tale of Two Pandemics: Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns of <i>Enterococcus</i> spp. in COVID-19 Era |
| title_sort | tale of two pandemics antimicrobial resistance patterns of i enterococcus i spp in covid 19 era |
| topic | <i>Enterococcus</i> COVID-19 antimicrobial resistance pandemic |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/12/2/312 |
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