Causes and Consequences of COVID-19-Associated Bacterial Infections

Jennifer M Farrell; Conan Y Zhao; Keiko M Tarquinio; Sam P Brown

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2021.682571

Causes and Consequences of COVID-19-Associated Bacterial Infections

Front Microbiol. 2021 Jul 20:12:682571. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.682571. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Jennifer M Farrell^{1

2}, Conan Y Zhao^{1

2

3}, Keiko M Tarquinio⁴, Sam P Brown^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States.
² Center for Microbial Dynamics and Infection, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States.
³ Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Quantitative Biosciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States.
⁴ Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA, United States.

Abstract

The COVID-19 literature highlights that bacterial infections are more common in fatal cases than recovered cases. If bacterial infections drive mortality in COVID-19, this has clear implications for patient management. However, it is possible that the enrichment of bacterial infections in COVID-19 fatalities is simply a by-product of late-stage pathology, leading to different advice for patient management. To address this question, we review current knowledge on bacterial infections in COVID-19, assess information from past viral respiratory pandemics, and simulate alternate causal models of interactions between virus, bacteria, and mortality in COVID-19. From these models, we conclude that currently available data are not sufficient to discriminate between these alternate causal pathways, and we highlight what data are required to determine the relative contribution of bacterial infection to COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. We further summarize the potential long-term consequences of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Keywords: COVID-19; ICU; bacteria; co-infection; pneumonia; secondary infection.