15% increase in hospital-acquired infections… Causes of excessive use of antibiotics and insufficient protective equipment
In the United States, excessive use of antibiotics for patients in the first year of the spread of COVID-19 has led to an increase in ‘super-bacterial’ infections that cannot be treated even with antibacterial drugs.
According to the ‘Effect of COVID-19 on Antimicrobial Resistance in the U.S., 2022 Special Report’ released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on the 12th (local time), the number of cases infected with antimicrobial-resistant bacteria in hospitals in 2020 compared to 2019, before Corona 19 increased by 15%.
By major bacteria, carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter infections, which can cause pneumonia, bloodstream infections, and wound infections, increased by 78%.
Multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MRPA) infection causing skin infections, pressure sores, pneumonia, bacteremia, etc. Sylin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections also increased by 32%, 14%, and 13%, respectively.
Bacteria develop resistance to antibiotics as they evolve, and the more antibiotics are used, the more likely the bacteria will adapt.
In the first year of the spread of COVID-19, many hospitals prescribed antibiotics to patients who showed symptoms similar to pneumonia, such as high fever and shortness of breath.
From March to October 2020, nearly 80% of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 received antibiotics.
However, antibiotics only catch bacteria, but are not effective against diseases that are transmitted through viruses, such as COVID-19.
The CDC notes that antibiotics may be appropriate when you don’t know if you have a bacterial or fungal infection, but these high prescriptions can create side effects for patients and provide a pathway for antibiotic-resistant bacteria to grow and spread, the CDC said.
In addition, appropriate precautions should be taken in hospitals to prevent infection, but it was not easy in a situation where the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients increased rapidly.
There was a shortage of personal protective equipment such as masks and manpower in hospitals, and more severe patients had to use medical equipment such as catheters and ventilators frequently and for a long time.
Catheters and ventilators can be routes of infection.
According to the CDC, more than 29,400 people in the United States died from antibiotic-resistant infections in 2020, of which nearly 40% were hospital-acquired.
Considering that it was difficult to receive proper data from hospitals due to the spread of COVID-19, the CDC explained that there could be more cases of infection.
In fact, this report did not obtain data on 9 of the 18 pathogens listed in the 2019 report.
A 2019 report estimated that more than 2.8 million people in the United States are infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria each year, and that more than 35,000 people die as a result.
/yunhap news