Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36454978›Full record

Observational studyPloS one2022

What happened during COVID-19 in African ICUs? An observational study of pulmonary co-infections, superinfections, and mortality in Morocco.

Younes Aissaoui, Youssef Ennassimi, Ismail Myatt, Mohammed El Bouhiaoui, Mehdi Nabil, Mohammed Bahi, Lamiae Arsalane, Mouhcine Miloudi, Ayoub Belhadj

Open access · goldAbstract readObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in PloS one, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.9field-weighted citation impact, top 25% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. The Antimicrobial Efficacy of Copper Complexes: A Review.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025
    Review
  5. Article
  6. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Younes AissaouiCOVID-19 Intensive Care Unit, Avicenna Military Hospital, Marrakech, Morocco.ORCID 0000-0001-8420-6679
Youssef EnnassimiCOVID-19 Intensive Care Unit, Avicenna Military Hospital, Marrakech, Morocco.
Ismail MyattCOVID-19 Intensive Care Unit, Avicenna Military Hospital, Marrakech, Morocco.
Mohammed El BouhiaouiCOVID-19 Intensive Care Unit, Avicenna Military Hospital, Marrakech, Morocco.
Mehdi NabilCOVID-19 Intensive Care Unit, Avicenna Military Hospital, Marrakech, Morocco.
Mohammed BahiCOVID-19 Intensive Care Unit, Avicenna Military Hospital, Marrakech, Morocco.ORCID 0000-0002-1305-664X
Lamiae ArsalaneMicrobiology and Virology Department, Avicenna Military Hospital, Marrakech, Morocco.
Mouhcine MiloudiMicrobiology and Virology Department, Avicenna Military Hospital, Marrakech, Morocco.
Ayoub BelhadjCOVID-19 Intensive Care Unit, Avicenna Military Hospital, Marrakech, Morocco.
Hôpital Militaire Avicenne · MACadi Ayyad University · MA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThere is a growing literature showing that critically ill COVID-19 patients have an increased risk of pulmonary co-infections and superinfections. However, studies in developing countries, especially African countries, are lacking. The objective was to describe the prevalence of bacterial co-infections and superinfections in critically ill adults with severe COVID-19 pneumonia in Morocco, the micro-organisms involved, and the impact of these infections on survival.

methodsThis retrospective study included severe COVID-19 patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) between April 2020 and April 2021. The diagnosis of pulmonary co-infections and superinfections was based on the identification of pathogens from lower respiratory tract samples. Co-infection was defined as the identification of a respiratory pathogen, diagnosed concurrently with SARS-Cov2 pneumonia. Superinfections include hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) and ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). A multivariate regression analysis was performed to identify factors independently associated with mortality.

resultsData from 155 patients were analyzed. The median age was 68 years [62-72] with 87% of patients being male. A large proportion of patients (68%) received antibiotics before ICU admission. Regarding ventilatory management, the majority of patients (88%) underwent non-invasive ventilation (NIV). Sixty-five patients (42%) were placed under invasive mechanical ventilation, mostly after failure of NIV. The prevalence of co-infections, HAP and VAP was respectively 4%, 12% and 40% (64 VAP/1000 ventilation days). The most isolated pathogens were Enterobacterales for HAP and Acinetobacter sp. for VAP. The proportion of extra-drug resistant (XDR) bacteria was 78% for Acinetobacter sp. and 24% for Enterobacterales. Overall ICU mortality in this cohort was 64.5%. Patients with superinfection showed a higher risk of death (OR = 6.4, 95% CI: 1.8-22; p = 0.004).

conclusionsIn this single-ICU Moroccan COVID-19 cohort, bacterial co-infections were relatively uncommon. Conversely, high rates of superinfections were observed, with an increased frequency of antimicrobial resistance. Patients with superinfections showed a higher risk of death.

Indexed as

CoinfectionCOVID-19Pneumonia, Ventilator-AssociatedSuperinfectionAdultAgedCritical IllnessFemaleHumansIntensive Care UnitsMaleMoroccoRetrospective StudiesRNA, ViralSARS-CoV-2RNA, Viral

Identifiers

PMID36454978
PMCPMC9714850
OpenAlexW4311068995

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.