Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39017693›Full record

ArticleEuropean journal of clinical pharmacology2024

Use of antibiotics in the early COVID-19 pandemic in Poland, the Netherlands and Spain, from erraticism to (more) logic.

Aleksandra Opalska, Helga Gardarsdottir, Marcel Kwa, Jadwiga Wójkowska-Mach, Monica Sabate, Maria Elena Ballarin, Mark de Groot, Hubert Leufkens

Erratum issuedAbstract readMulticenter Study
In one paragraph

Article in European journal of clinical pharmacology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Aleksandra OpalskaDivision Pharmacoepidemiology and Clinical Pharmacology, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Science, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands.
Helga GardarsdottirDivision Pharmacoepidemiology and Clinical Pharmacology, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Science, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands.
Marcel KwaDepartment of Pharmacovigilance, Medicines Evaluation Board, Utrecht, Netherlands.
Jadwiga Wójkowska-MachDepartment of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Crakow, Poland.
Monica SabateDepartment of Clinical Pharmacology, Vall d'Hebron University Hospital, Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, Spain.
Maria Elena BallarinDepartment of Clinical Pharmacology, Vall d'Hebron University Hospital, Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, Spain.
Mark de GrootUPOD, Central Diagnostic Laboratory, Division Laboratories, Pharmacy and Biomedical Genetics, Utrecht, Netherlands.
Hubert LeufkensDivision Pharmacoepidemiology and Clinical Pharmacology, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Science, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands. h.g.m.leufkens@uu.nl.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionIn the Spring of 2020, the world was hit with unparalleled impact by the coronavirus pandemic. Antibiotics were widely used, even without good rationale. The aim of our study was to compare the use of antibiotics in patients with confirmed COVID-19 from three hospitals across Europe (Poland, the Netherlands and Spain) between two subsequent periods in the early days of the pandemic.

methodWe analysed data (antibiotics used and variation in the use of antibiotics, patients, admission and disease-related characteristics) from 300 patients admitted in three hospitals (University Hospital in Cracow, University Medical Center in Utrecht and Vall d'Hebron University Hospital in Barcelona) with confirmed infection of SARS-CoV-2 during Q1 2020 and Q4 2020.

resultsThere was ample variation in terms of patient mix and outcomes across the 3 hospitals. The majority of patients (225 out of 300) in all 3 hospitals received at least 1 antibiotic during the hospitalisation period. A minority of patients (68 out of 300) had their bacterial test results positive during their hospitalisation period. Throughout the 2 study periods, third-generation cephalosporins (ceftriaxone in 170 out of 300 patients) emerged as the most commonly used class of antibiotics. There was an apparent shift towards more rational utilisation of antibiotics, in all three hospitals.

conclusionsOur study shows that during the early stage of COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, antibiotics were frequently used in three European teaching hospitals despite the relatively low incidence of microbiologically confirmed bacterial infections. While in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic antibiotic prescribing was full of trial and error, we could also confirm a learning curve over time.

Indexed as

Anti-Bacterial AgentsCOVID-19AdultAgedCOVID-19 Drug TreatmentFemaleHospitalizationHumansMaleMiddle AgedNetherlandsPandemicsPolandPractice Patterns, Physicians'SARS-CoV-2SpainAnti-Bacterial AgentsCOVID-19HospitalizationRational use of antibiotics

Identifiers

PMID39017693
PMCPMC11393094

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Registered trials

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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.