Impact of the strategies implemented by an antimicrobial stewardship program on the antibiotic consumption in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic

• Published in: Infection control and hospital epidemiology Vol. 43; no. 9; pp. 1292 - 1293
• Main Authors: Murgadella-Sancho, Anna, Coloma-Conde, Ana, Oriol-Bermúdez, Isabel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, USA Cambridge University Press 01.09.2022
• Subjects: Antibiotics; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Letter to the Editor; Pandemics; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
• ISSN: 0899-823X; 1559-6834
• DOI: 10.1017/ice.2021.237

In published series of hospitalized patients with COVID-19, the prevalence of antibiotic use ranges from 72% to 95%.2,3 However, in published reviews, the prevalence of bacterial coinfection in these patients is 8% and that of superinfection is 14.3%.4,5 Therefore, the systematic use of antibiotics does not seem to be an adequate strategy and can lead to toxicity and resistance issues.6 In our center, Moisès Broggi Hospital (a 380-bed regional hospital, located in Barcelona, that serves an area of 425,000 inhabitants), we conducted a before-and-after study to compare the evolution of antibiotic consumption in conventional hospitalization between 2019 (pre–COVID-19) and 2020 (COVID-19), and to analyze the effect of antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) team strategies applied during the COVID period. [...]in the computer system, the duration of these treatments was fixed by default to the days defined in the protocol (with prior notification of this measure to all professionals). [...]the in-hospital strategies implemented during 2020 by the AMS team contributed to reduce antibiotic use in noncritical patients despite the COVID-19 pandemic.