Outcomes and antibiotic use in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) admitted to an intensive care unit

Megan M Petteys; Leigh Ann Medaris; Julie E Williamson; Rohit S Soman; Travis A Denmeade; William E Anderson; Michael K Leonard; Christopher M Polk

doi:10.1017/ash.2021.248

Outcomes and antibiotic use in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) admitted to an intensive care unit

Antimicrob Steward Healthc Epidemiol. 2022 Jan 17;2(1):e12. doi: 10.1017/ash.2021.248. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Megan M Petteys¹, Leigh Ann Medaris², Julie E Williamson¹, Rohit S Soman¹, Travis A Denmeade³, William E Anderson⁴, Michael K Leonard², Christopher M Polk²

Affiliations

¹ Antimicrobial Support Network, Atrium Health, Charlotte, North Carolina.
² Division of Infectious Diseases, Atrium Health, Charlotte, North Carolina.
³ Infectious Disease, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
⁴ Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Atrium Health, Charlotte, North Carolina.

Abstract

Antibiotic overuse is high in patients hospitalized with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) despite a low documented prevalence of bacterial infections in many studies. In this study evaluating 65 COVID-19 patients in the intensive care unit, empiric broad-spectrum antibiotics were often overutilized with an inertia to de-escalate despite negative culture results.