ArticleBMC infectious diseases2021
Inadequate use of antibiotics in the covid-19 era: effectiveness of antibiotic therapy.
Article in BMC infectious diseases, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers.
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Who cites it
37 citing papers in PubMed.
- Factors associated with antibiotic prescription among patients with respiratory illness in Thailand: The potential impact of rapid influenza diagnostic testing in antimicrobial stewardship.International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases · 2026Article
- The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on phototherapy usage for neonatal hyperbilirubinemia.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2026Article
- High frequency of antibiotic administration for COVID-19 patients in Syria and its associations with mortality and complications.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Observational
- Understanding antibiotic misuse in Kazakhstan: insights from the WHO behavioral survey on COVID-19.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Antibiotic Treatment in Patients Hospitalized for Nonsevere COVID-19.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Clinical Characteristics of Hospitalized Patients With COVID-19 and Their Association With the Progression to Critical Illness and Death: A Single-Center Retrospective Study From Northwestern Mexico.The clinical respiratory journal · 2024Article
- The Impact of Early Antibiotic Use on Clinical Outcomes of Patients Hospitalized with COVID-19: A Propensity Score-Matched Analysis.Infection and drug resistance · 2024Article
- Is there a correlation between antibiotic use and the severity or post-infection conditions of COVID-19 and other viral infections?Clinical and experimental medicine · 2023Review
- Prediction of tsunami of resistance to some antibiotics is not far-fetched which used during COVID-19 pandemic.Journal of clinical laboratory analysis · 2023Review
- The Dark Side of Nosocomial Infections in Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- What's old is new again: Insights into diabetic foot microbiome.World journal of diabetes · 2023Review
- Pharmacist-driven antimicrobial stewardship interventions in patients with COVID-19: a scoping review.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 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
- Can photocatalysis help in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic?Current opinion in green and sustainable chemistry · 2023Review
- Artificial Intelligence: A Next-Level Approach in Confronting the COVID-19 Pandemic.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- A multicentre study reveals dysbiosis in the microbial co-infection and antimicrobial resistance gene profile in the nasopharynx of COVID-19 patients.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- A multicenter evaluation of antibacterial use in hospitalized patients through the SARS-Cov-2 pandemic waves.BMC infectious diseases · 2023Article
- Use of Systemic Antibiotics in Patients with COVID-19 in Colombia: A Cross-Sectional Study.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Antimicrobial Therapy as a Risk Factor of Multidrug-ResistantThe Canadian journal of infectious diseases & medical microbiology = Journal canadien des maladies infectieuses et de la microbiologie medicale · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
25 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSince December 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the concept of medicine. This work aims to analyze the use of antibiotics in patients admitted to the hospital due to SARS-CoV-2 infection.
methodsThis work analyzes the use and effectiveness of antibiotics in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 based on data from the SEMI-COVID-19 registry, an initiative to generate knowledge about this disease using data from electronic medical records. Our primary endpoint was all-cause in-hospital mortality according to antibiotic use. The secondary endpoint was the effect of macrolides on mortality.
resultsOf 13,932 patients, antibiotics were used in 12,238. The overall death rate was 20.7% and higher among those taking antibiotics (87.8%). Higher mortality was observed with use of all antibiotics (OR 1.40, 95% CI 1.21-1.62; p < .001) except macrolides, which had a higher survival rate (OR 0.70, 95% CI 0.64-0.76; p < .001). The decision to start antibiotics was influenced by presence of increased inflammatory markers and any kind of infiltrate on an x-ray. Patients receiving antibiotics required respiratory support and were transferred to intensive care units more often.
conclusionsBacterial co-infection was uncommon among COVID-19 patients, yet use of antibiotics was high. There is insufficient evidence to support widespread use of empiric antibiotics in these patients. Most may not require empiric treatment and if they do, there is promising evidence regarding azithromycin as a potential COVID-19 treatment.
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