THE HIDDEN THREAT OF MULTIDRUG-RESISTANT BACTERIA BEHIND THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC SITUATION

Abstract

By the end of 2019, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been spread in Wuhan, China. In a short while, the disease spread all over the world resulting in a pandemic since the beginning of 2020. Hand hygiene is suddenly being the critical measure applied by everyone, including healthcare workers. This practice is supposedly reducing the spread of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria. However, the broad use of antibiotics provokes a higher prevalence of the MDR bacteria. Furthermore, the high number of hospitalizations in COVID-19 patients is causing hospital overcapacity. As with any other communicable disease agent, overcrowding leads to the easier spread of MDR bacteria residing in hospitals. Thus, bacterial infection acquired during hospitalization is being the main concern. Patients with COVID-19 experiencing bacterial co-infection during hospital admission has a worse prognosis and a longer hospital stay. Therefore, this study aimed to disclose the overview of healthcare-associated infections (HAI) caused by MDR bacteria that might be neglected in the COVID-19 patients. We  performed a search of the literature using broad-based search criteria with the terms  ‘healthcare-associated infections’, ‘antimicrobial resistant’, and ‘COVID-19’. Limited studies reported HAI cases caused by MDR bacteria. The selected articles reported various prevalence of bacterial co-infection in patients with COVID-19 during hospitalization, ranging from 8-24.8% including those that producing ESBL. The actual prevalence is difficult to predict because of the insufficient reports. Further measures are needed to address this condition.