More against antibiotic-resistant bacteria by COVID-19?
In times of corona crisis medical centers in the pandemic are crowded Hotspots frequently. In the treatment and care of sick persons to be administered in addition, a lot more antibiotics than normal, what is the spread of resistant bacteria, so the warning in a recent contribution to the magazine “Science”.
The report comes to the conclusion that the increased use of antibiotics in the course of the COVID-19-pandemic contributes strains to an increase of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Although reliable data are currently missing, however, is expected to see rising resistance, particularly to antibiotics, such as Azithromycin.
Problems in the lung are often treated with antibiotics
Antibiotics do not act directly on the COVID-19 responsible for respiratory virus SARS-CoV-2. But respiratory viral infections facilitate bacterial Penetration into the body and often lead to a bacterial pneumonia. Doctors can only find hard, what pathogens cause the lung problems of a Person. Such persons are treated often with antibiotics, especially if it’s a matter of life and death.
Increase of COVID results-19 patients to more resistant bacteria?
The researchers fear that the rise of COVID-19-patients could ultimately lead to an increase in antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Hospitals, especially intensive care units, were true breeding antimicrobial resistance sites. Although there are increased efforts to reduce the use of antibiotics. But COVID-19 aggravating many of these efforts.
COVID-19 slows down the spread of antibiotic resistance?
But there is also the Theory that the pandemic could slow the spread of the bacteria as well as resistance to antibiotics within hospitals. Because many hospital-acquired infections will need surgery, which will be cancelled at the time largely to bed capacity for COVID-19-to maintain patients. And the staff wear currently reinforced masks and other personal protective equipment. Some hospitals are forced to use personal protective equipment re-use and respiratory equipment between Patients to exchange, however, are.
Transmission of pathogens in hospitals
“It is quite clear that COVID-19 will be transmitted in hospitals, and if this is the case, then this is also true in the case of resistant bacteria,” says Bo Shopsin from the Langone Health Center of the University of New York in the contribution of the magazine Science.
Use of antibiotics seems to greatly increase
Even more important is that the use of antibiotics increases, apparently, strong. Several recent studies from China suggest that almost all severe cases of COVID-19 can be treated with antibiotics. The researchers, according to many American and European Doctors report the same thing.
Antibiotics are needed to combat secondary infections
Often antibiotics for treatment are actually necessary. Because there is accumulating evidence that many COVID-19-patients inherit more likely in secondary infections than the Virus itself passes. A recently in “The Lancet” published a study on the results of 247 hospitalized COVID-19-patients in Wuhan, China showed that 15 percent of these patients and half of the deceased subjects had bacterial infections.
Outbreaks of respiratory viruses beneficiaries deadly pneumonia
Larger outbreaks of other respiratory viruses illustrate the concern of the researchers. Up to half of the 300,000 people who died in the year 2009, the H1N1 flu, and the majority of deaths from the flu of 1918, killed in fact to bacterial pneumonia.
Guidelines are not always applicable
There are, of course, guidelines on when antibiotics should be used and when not. But in the current Situation, it is difficult to imagine that these directives are fully complied with, stress the researchers. Explain the example of Azithromycin.
Azithromycin deficiency in the United States by COVID-19?
In combination with the Malaria drug hydroxychloroquine is currently being used, Azithromycin is increasingly used for the treatment of COVID-19-patient, after, small, uncontrolled studies have pointed to the efficacy of the combination. It is virtually impossible to know how often the combination is prescribed, but the Rate is high enough to cause a Azithromycin shortage in the United States, reports the researchers.
Antibiotics becoming less effective?
It is still too early to say to what extent COVID-19, the global antibiotic resistance rates will affect. But in some Parts of the United States 30 to 40 percent of some of the more widespread pre-pandemic bacterial species against the class of drugs resistant to the Azithromycin, report the researchers. Now these or other antibiotics could be less effective.
We need new guidelines?
Further research will investigate to what extent COVID-19-patients antibiotics are administered, and how often you suffer from secondary infections, which justify the use of antibiotics. The results should help to develop new guidelines for when and how antibiotics are prescribed. The provision of data rates of the patients, could help to better understand how infections spread in hospitals and why bacterial and viral infections are connected to each other. (as)