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Microbiological findings and prescribing trends in SARS- CoV-2 positive patients in two United Kingdom Hospitals

Pj, Teoh; I, Maan; J, Uwagwu; A, Odedra; (2022) Microbiological findings and prescribing trends in SARS- CoV-2 positive patients in two United Kingdom Hospitals. Infection Prevention in Practice , Article 100246. 10.1016/j.infpip.2022.100246. (In press). Green open access

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Abstract

Objective: To describe antibiotic prescribing and microbiological findings in patients admitted to two London hospitals with COVID-19. Methods: This is a retrospective review of confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infected adults admitted between 9th February and 10th May 2020. Demographics, critical care unit (CCU) admission, antibiotic prescribing and microbiology results within 10 days of COVID-19 diagnosis were analysed. Results: 1155 patients were identified. 32.9% (380) died. 12.4% (143) had positive microbiology. After excluding likely contaminants, 6.9% (80) had clinically significant microbiology. The most common organisms isolated from blood cultures were Escherichia coli 9.5% (7), Klebsiella pneumoniae 4.0% (3), and Staphylococcus aureus 2.7% (2). A high percentage of blood cultures yielded coagulase negative staphylococci (51/74, 68.9%) and likely represented contamination. Organisms isolated from lower respiratory tract samples included Candida albicans 44.4% (12), Staphylococcus aureus 22.2% (6), Klebsiella species 11.0% (3), Pseudomonas aeruginosa 11.0% (3), and Citrobacter species 11% (3). Legionella and pneumococcal urinary antigen tests were positive in 0/117 and 2/71 (2.8%) samples. 91% (1051) of patients received antibiotics. Clarithromycin (24.2% total antibiotic use) and amoxicillin (21%) were most frequently used, followed by piperacillin-tazobactam (12.6%), gentamicin (10.6%), co-amoxiclav (9.3%) and meropenem (3.2%). Piperacillin-tazobactam or meropenem use was associated with a higher length of stay and mortality. Conclusions: Positive microbiology in COVID-19 patients is uncommon. Antibiotic use was widespread, despite lack of microbiological evidence of co-infection. When present, positive microbiology was more likely due to gram negative bacteria. Current local clinical and antimicrobial guidelines have incorporated these findings and recommend against routine antibiotic use in COVID-19 patients.

Type: Article
Title: Microbiological findings and prescribing trends in SARS- CoV-2 positive patients in two United Kingdom Hospitals
Location: England
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1016/j.infpip.2022.100246
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infpip.2022.100246
Language: English
Additional information: © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The Healthcare Infection Society. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Keywords: Antibiotics, Antimicrobial stewardship, COVID-19, Microbiological findings, SARS-CoV-2
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute for Global Health
URI: https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10160009
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