Antibiotics in treatment of COVID-19 complications: a review of frequency, indications, and efficacy
Objectives: To report available information in the literature regarding frequency, indications, types of antibiotic usage, duration, and their efficacy in Covid-19 infected patients. Methods: The search was conducted on April 30 and May 7, 2020, using Ovid database and Google search. Patients’ chara...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2021-05-01
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| Series: | Journal of Infection and Public Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876034121000307 |
| _version_ | 1818734438037585920 |
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| author | Marie Chedid Rami Waked Elie Haddad Nabil Chetata Gebrael Saliba Jacques Choucair |
| author_facet | Marie Chedid Rami Waked Elie Haddad Nabil Chetata Gebrael Saliba Jacques Choucair |
| author_sort | Marie Chedid |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objectives: To report available information in the literature regarding frequency, indications, types of antibiotic usage, duration, and their efficacy in Covid-19 infected patients. Methods: The search was conducted on April 30 and May 7, 2020, using Ovid database and Google search. Patients’ characteristics, clinical outcomes, as well as selected characteristics regarding antibiotic use (indication, class used, rates and types of bacterial secondary and co-infection, and duration of treatment) were analyzed. Results: Nineteen clinical studies reporting data from 2834 patients were included. Mean rate of antibiotic use was 74.0 % of cases. Half the studies reported occurrence of a bacterial co-infection or complication (10 studies). Amongst the latter, at least 17.6 % of patients who received antibiotics had secondary infections. Pooled data of 4 studies show that half of patients receiving antibiotics were not severe nor critical. Detailed data on antibiotic use lack in most articles. Conclusions: The present review found a major use of antibiotics amongst Covid-19 hospitalized patients, mainly in an empirical setting. There is no proven efficacy of this practice. Further research to determine relevant indications for antibiotic use in Covid-19 patients is critical in view of the significant mortality associated with secondary infections in these patients, and the rising antimicrobial resistance. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-18T00:05:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-826894708c094b42875f2c947993c53f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1876-0341 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-18T00:05:21Z |
| publishDate | 2021-05-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Infection and Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-826894708c094b42875f2c947993c53f2022-12-21T21:27:49ZengElsevierJournal of Infection and Public Health1876-03412021-05-01145570576Antibiotics in treatment of COVID-19 complications: a review of frequency, indications, and efficacyMarie Chedid0Rami Waked1Elie Haddad2Nabil Chetata3Gebrael Saliba4Jacques Choucair5Department of Infectious Diseases, Hotel Dieu de France, Faculty of Medicine, Saint Joseph University, Beirut, LebanonCorresponding author.; Department of Infectious Diseases, Hotel Dieu de France, Faculty of Medicine, Saint Joseph University, Beirut, LebanonDepartment of Infectious Diseases, Hotel Dieu de France, Faculty of Medicine, Saint Joseph University, Beirut, LebanonDepartment of Infectious Diseases, Hotel Dieu de France, Faculty of Medicine, Saint Joseph University, Beirut, LebanonDepartment of Infectious Diseases, Hotel Dieu de France, Faculty of Medicine, Saint Joseph University, Beirut, LebanonDepartment of Infectious Diseases, Hotel Dieu de France, Faculty of Medicine, Saint Joseph University, Beirut, LebanonObjectives: To report available information in the literature regarding frequency, indications, types of antibiotic usage, duration, and their efficacy in Covid-19 infected patients. Methods: The search was conducted on April 30 and May 7, 2020, using Ovid database and Google search. Patients’ characteristics, clinical outcomes, as well as selected characteristics regarding antibiotic use (indication, class used, rates and types of bacterial secondary and co-infection, and duration of treatment) were analyzed. Results: Nineteen clinical studies reporting data from 2834 patients were included. Mean rate of antibiotic use was 74.0 % of cases. Half the studies reported occurrence of a bacterial co-infection or complication (10 studies). Amongst the latter, at least 17.6 % of patients who received antibiotics had secondary infections. Pooled data of 4 studies show that half of patients receiving antibiotics were not severe nor critical. Detailed data on antibiotic use lack in most articles. Conclusions: The present review found a major use of antibiotics amongst Covid-19 hospitalized patients, mainly in an empirical setting. There is no proven efficacy of this practice. Further research to determine relevant indications for antibiotic use in Covid-19 patients is critical in view of the significant mortality associated with secondary infections in these patients, and the rising antimicrobial resistance.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876034121000307Antibiotic treatmentCOVID-19Coronavirus infectionPneumoniaReview paper |
| spellingShingle | Marie Chedid Rami Waked Elie Haddad Nabil Chetata Gebrael Saliba Jacques Choucair Antibiotics in treatment of COVID-19 complications: a review of frequency, indications, and efficacy Journal of Infection and Public Health Antibiotic treatment COVID-19 Coronavirus infection Pneumonia Review paper |
| title | Antibiotics in treatment of COVID-19 complications: a review of frequency, indications, and efficacy |
| title_full | Antibiotics in treatment of COVID-19 complications: a review of frequency, indications, and efficacy |
| title_fullStr | Antibiotics in treatment of COVID-19 complications: a review of frequency, indications, and efficacy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Antibiotics in treatment of COVID-19 complications: a review of frequency, indications, and efficacy |
| title_short | Antibiotics in treatment of COVID-19 complications: a review of frequency, indications, and efficacy |
| title_sort | antibiotics in treatment of covid 19 complications a review of frequency indications and efficacy |
| topic | Antibiotic treatment COVID-19 Coronavirus infection Pneumonia Review paper |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876034121000307 |
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