In addition to the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2, bacterial co-infection plays an essential role in the incidence and progression of SARS-CoV-2 infections by increasing the severity of infection, as well as increasing disease symptoms, death rate and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The current study was conducted in a tertiary-care hospital in Lahore, Pakistan, among hospitalized COVID-19 patients to see the prevalence of bacterial co-infections and the AMR rates among different isolated bacteria. Clinical samples for the laboratory diagnosis were collected from 1165 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, of which 423 were found to be positive for various bacterial infections. Most of the isolated bacteria were Gram-negative rods ( n = 366), followed by Gram-positive cocci ( n = 57). A significant association ( p < 0.05) was noted between the hospitalized COVID-19 patients and bacterial co-infections. Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus ) showed high resistance against tetracycline (61.7%), Streptococcus pyogenes against penicillin (100%), E. coli against Amp-clavulanic acid (88.72%), Klebsiella pneumoniae against ampicillin (100%), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa against ciprofloxacin (75.40%). Acinetobacter baumannii was 100% resistant to the majority of tested antibiotics. The prevalence of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) was 14.7%. The topmost symptoms of >50% of COVID-19 patients were fever, fatigue, dyspnea and chest pain with a significant association ( p < 0.05) in bacterial co-infected patients. The current study results showed a comparatively high prevalence of AMR, which may become a severe health-related issue in the future. Therefore, strict compliance of antibiotic usage and employment of antibiotic stewardship programs at every public or private institutional level are recommended.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, antimicrobial resistance, Co-infections, Antimicrobial stewardship, hospital-acquired infections, 【초록키워드】 fatigue, SARS-COV-2 infection, hospital, Diagnosis, Antibiotics, Symptom, progression, Laboratory, Prevalence, clinical, Fever, Dyspnea, Compliance, Bacteria, incidence, Bacterial infections, bacterial co-infection, patients, Bacterial, association, hospitalized COVID-19 patient, antibiotic, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, MRSA, Staphylococcus aureus, COVID-19 patient, chest pain, employment, Klebsiella pneumoniae, death rate, E. coli, hospitalized COVID-19 patients, Severity of infection, positive, Acinetobacter, MOST, disease symptoms, pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2, tested, collected, addition, conducted, majority, rod, cocci, Streptococcus pyogene, 【제목키워드】 resistance, Rate,