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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · J Lab Physicians 2022; 14(03): 260-264
DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-1741438
Original Article

An Update on Secondary Bacterial and Fungal Infections and Their Antimicrobial Resistance Pattern (AMR) in COVID-19 Confirmed Patients

Sushma Yadav Boorgula
1   Department of Microbiology, AIG Hospitals, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
,
Sadhana Yelamanchili
1   Department of Microbiology, AIG Hospitals, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
,
Pragathi Kottapalli
1   Department of Microbiology, AIG Hospitals, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
,
Mohini D. Naga
1   Department of Microbiology, AIG Hospitals, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
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Abstract

Introduction Since coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has limited treatment options, concern has been raised over secondary infections and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) patterns. It has been observed that patients who were infected with COVID-19 were predisposed to develop secondary infections. The purpose of the study is to ascertain the prevalence of the bacterial and fungal coinfections in COVID-19 patients, and also to assess the AMR patterns in the obtained isolates.

Methods We have studied 200 clinical samples obtained from 122 COVID-19 positive patients. Pathogens were identified using Vitek 2 system. The demographic and clinical patterns were also observed.

Results A total of 122 patients developed secondary infections. Patients aged more than 40 years were majorly affected (p-value < 0.0001). Respiratory samples (n = 96) were predominant. Klebsiella pneumoniae (n = 68) was the most common pathogen isolated followed by Acinetobacter baumannii (n = 54) and an overall 6% rise in the Carbapenem resistance was observed in the isolates.

Conclusion To contain the secondary infections in COVID-19 patients, it is imperative to adhere to antimicrobial stewardship program and timely revise the empirical antibiotic policy.

Keywords

antimicrobial resistance - coagulase-negative staphylococcus - central line associated bloodstream infections


Publication History

Article published online:
10 January 2022

© 2022. The Indian Association of Laboratory Physicians. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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