Antibiotic-Resistant ESKAPE Pathogens and COVID-19: The Pandemic beyond the Pandemic

Alessia Catalano; Domenico Iacopetta; Jessica Ceramella; Michele Pellegrino; Federica Giuzio; Maria Marra; Camillo Rosano; Carmela Saturnino; Maria Stefania Sinicropi; Stefano Aquaro

doi:10.3390/v15091843

Antibiotic-Resistant ESKAPE Pathogens and COVID-19: The Pandemic beyond the Pandemic

Viruses. 2023 Aug 30;15(9):1843. doi: 10.3390/v15091843.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pharmacy-Drug Sciences, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Via Orabona 4, 70126 Bari, Italy.
² Department of Pharmacy, Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Calabria, 87036 Arcavacata di Rende, Italy.
³ Department of Science, University of Basilicata, 85100 Potenza, Italy.
⁴ Proteomics and Mass Spectrometry Unit, IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Largo Rosanna Benzi 10, 16132 Genova, Italy.

Abstract

Antibacterial resistance is a renewed public health plague in modern times, and the COVID-19 pandemic has rekindled this problem. Changes in antibiotic prescribing behavior, misinformation, financial hardship, environmental impact, and governance gaps have generally enhanced the misuse and improper access to antibiotics during the COVID-19 pandemic. These determinants, intersected with antibacterial resistance in the current pandemic, may amplify the potential for a future antibacterial resistance pandemic. The occurrence of infections with multidrug-resistant (MDR), extensively drug-resistant (XDR), difficult-to-treat drug-resistant (DTR), carbapenem-resistant (CR), and pan-drug-resistant (PDR) bacteria is still increasing. The aim of this review is to highlight the state of the art of antibacterial resistance worldwide, focusing on the most important pathogens, namely Enterobacterales, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Klebsiella pneumoniae, and their resistance to the most common antibiotics.

Keywords: COVID-19; DTR; ESKAPE; MDR; PDR; SARS-CoV-2; XDR; antibacterial resistance; antibacterials; post-COVID.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Acinetobacter baumannii*
Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology
Anti-Bacterial Agents / therapeutic use
COVID-19* / epidemiology
Carbapenems / pharmacology
Carbapenems / therapeutic use
Humans
Pandemics

Substances

Anti-Bacterial Agents
Carbapenems

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Project HORIZON EUROPE SEEDS ID S17 “Tutela della libertà e contrasto delle pandemie. Scienza e diritto per la definizione delle strategie per il contenimento delle situazioni di contagio”—NextgenerationEU Programma MUR—Fondo promozione e sviluppo—DM 737/2021 (A.C.); BY-COVID Project funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme under grant agreement No. 101046203 (C.R.) and PRIN (Progetti di Rilevante Interesse Nazionale) Grant 2017M8R7N9_004 and 2020KSY3KL_005 from MUR, Italy (S.A.).