Observational studyJMIR public health and surveillance2021
An Overview of the Treatment Options Used for the Management of COVID-19 in Pakistan: Retrospective Observational Study.
Observational study in JMIR public health and surveillance, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Antibiotic Utilization and Resistance According to the WHO AWaRe Classification in Intensive Care Units After COVID-19 Third Wave in Pakistan: Findings and Implications.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Article
- The impact of antibiotic resistance on the rampant spread of infectious diseases in Pakistan: Insights from a narrative review.Health science reports · 2024Article
- Antibiotic Susceptibility Surveillance in the Punjab Province of Pakistan: Findings and Implications.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2023Observational
- Clinical Disease Characteristics and Treatment Trajectories Associated with Mortality among COVID-19 Patients in Punjab, Pakistan.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Biopsychosocial analysis of antibiotic use for the prevention or management of COVID-19 infections: A scoping review.Research in social & administrative pharmacy : RSAP · 2023Article
- COVID-19 and the rising scourge of antimicrobial resistance: A perspective from Pakistan.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2022Article
- Co-Infections, Secondary Infections, and Antimicrobial Use in Patients Hospitalized with COVID-19 during the First Five Waves of the Pandemic in Pakistan; Findings and Implications.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Prescription Patterns of Drugs Given to Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study in Colombia.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Genomic Epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 Divulge B.1, B.1.36, and B.1.1.7 as the Most Dominant Lineages in First, Second, and Third Wave of SARS-CoV-2 Infections in Pakistan.Microorganisms · 2021Article
- Potential impact of COVID-19 pandemic on escalating antimicrobial resistance in Pakistan.The Journal of infection · 2021Article
- "Underneath the visible" - COVID-19 Risk prediction tools in a high-volume, low-resource Emergency Department.Pakistan journal of medical sciencesArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSince the first reports of COVID-19 infection, the foremost requirement has been to identify a treatment regimen that not only fights the causative agent but also controls the associated complications of the infection. Due to the time-consuming process of drug discovery, physicians have used readily available drugs and therapies for treatment of infections to minimize the death toll.
objectiveThe aim of this study is to provide a snapshot analysis of the major drugs used in a cohort of 1562 Pakistani patients during the period from May to July 2020, when the first wave of COVID-19 peaked in Pakistan.
methodsA retrospective observational study was performed to provide an overview of the major drugs used in a cohort of 1562 patients with COVID-19 admitted to the four major tertiary-care hospitals in the Rawalpindi-Islamabad region of Pakistan during the peak of the first wave of COVID-19 in the country (May-July 2020).
resultsAntibiotics were the most common choice out of all the therapies employed, and they were used as first line of treatment for COVID-19. Azithromycin was the most prescribed drug for treatment. No monthly trend was observed in the choice of antibiotics, and these drugs appeared to be a random but favored choice throughout the months of the study. It was also noted that even antibiotics used for multidrug resistant infections were prescribed irrespective of the severity or progression of the infection. The results of the analysis are alarming, as this approach may lead to antibiotic resistance and complications in immunocompromised patients with COVID-19. A total of 1562 patients (1064 male, 68.1%, and 498 female, 31.9%) with a mean age of 47.35 years (SD 17.03) were included in the study. The highest frequency of patient hospitalizations occurred in June (846/1562, 54.2%).
conclusionsGuidelines for a targeted treatment regime are needed to control related complications and to limit the misuse of antibiotics in the management of COVID-19.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.