ArticleOpen forum infectious diseases2021
Bacterial Superinfections Among Persons With Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Comprehensive Review of Data From Postmortem Studies.
Article in Open forum infectious diseases, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 47 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
47 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 86 citations in OpenAlex.
- Identification of bacterial co-detections in COVID-19 critically Ill patients by BioFire® FilmArray® pneumonia panel: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Diagnostic microbiology and infectious disease · 2021Pooled it
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- Bacterial Superinfections After SARS-CoV-2 Pneumonia: Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns, Impact on Inflammatory Profiles, Severity Scores, and Clinical Outcomes.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Pathogenic and periodontal bacteria may contribute to the fatal outcome of critically ill elderly COVID-19 patients.Scientific reports · 2025Article
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- Profiling Bacteria in the Lungs of Patients with Severe Influenza Versus COVID-19 with or without Aspergillosis.American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine · 2024Article
- Age and urban-rural disparities in cutaneous melanoma mortality rates in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic.Pigment cell & melanoma research · 2024Article
- Article
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- Molecular Typing and Resistance Profile ofAntibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Evaluation of Acinetobacter baumannii, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Staphylococcus aureus respiratory tract superinfections among patients with COVID-19 at a tertiary-care hospital in Tehran, Iran.European journal of medical research · 2023Article
- Coinfections and Superinfections Associated with COVID-19 in Colombia: A Narrative Review.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2023Review
- Article
- Pulmonary Co-Infections Detected Premortem Underestimate Postmortem Findings in a COVID-19 Autopsy Case Series.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Collateral Changes in Cell Physiology Associated with ADC-7 β-Lactamase Expression in Acinetobacter baumannii.Microbiology spectrum · 2023Article
- The Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 on Viral, Bacterial, and Fungal Respiratory Infections.Clinics in chest medicine · 2023Review
- Vaccines and therapeutics for immunocompromised patients with COVID-19.EClinicalMedicine · 2023Review
- Risk factors for developing ventilator-associated lower respiratory tract infection in patients with severe COVID-19: a multinational, multicentre study, prospective, observational study.Scientific reports · 2023Observational
- A Retrospective Assessment of Sputum Samples and Antimicrobial Resistance in COVID-19 Patients.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- [Bacterial resistance, a current crisis.]Revista espanola de salud publica · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundLimited clinical data suggest a ~16% prevalence of bacterial superinfections among critically ill patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
methodsWe reviewed postmortem studies of patients with COVID-19 published in English through September 26, 2020, for histopathologic findings consistent with bacterial lung infections.
resultsWorldwide, 621 patients from 75 studies were included. The quality of data was uneven, likely because identifying superinfections was not a major objective in 96% (72/75) of studies. Histopathology consistent with a potential lung superinfection was reported in 32% (200/621) of patients (22-96 years old; 66% men). Types of infections were pneumonia (95%), abscesses or empyema (3.5%), and septic emboli (1.5%). Seventy-three percent of pneumonias were focal rather than diffuse. The predominant histopathologic findings were intra-alveolar neutrophilic infiltrations that were distinct from those typical of COVID-19-associated diffuse alveolar damage. In studies with available data, 79% of patients received antimicrobial treatment; the most common agents were beta-lactam/beta-lactamase inhibitors (48%), macrolides (16%), cephalosoprins (12%), and carbapenems (6%). Superinfections were proven by direct visualization or recovery of bacteria in 25.5% (51/200) of potential cases and 8% of all patients in postmortem studies. In rank order, pathogens included
conclusionsPotential bacterial lung superinfections were evident at postmortem examination in 32% of persons who died with COVID-19 (proven, 8%; possible, 24%), but they were uncommonly the cause of death.
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