Assessment of Antibiotic Resistance Pattern of Bacteria Prevalent during COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Owing to disparities in the intensity of the breakouts, state and federal regulations, accessible means, cultural elements, and social consciousness, the global reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic has been varied. The COVID-19 pandemic, on the other hand, has had an impact on all parts of society, notably efforts to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The pandemic has highlighted that a greater burden on medical infrastructure can contribute to higher, often unnecessary antibiotic usage and a de-prioritization of antimicrobial stewardship and surveillance (AMS). The focus of this research is to see if there is a growth in antibiotic resistance during the covid-19 pandemic in the King Salman Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and to investigate the subcomponent that leads to antibiotic resistance. This is a comprehensive review of patients hospitalized at the King Salman Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, who were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) during the first wave of the covid-19 pandemic, which occurred between March and August 2020. An analysis of the case dataset was performed to determine the rise in antibiotic resistance and relate it to resistant cases before the pandemic (September 2019 to February 2020). Before and throughout the pandemic, fifteen kinds of bacteria were found, with K. pneumonia being the most prevalent bacteria (49; 30.6%), and Ac. Baum/haem being the most removable bacteria during the pandemic (74; 37.3%). Cephalosporin antibiotics, in notably cefotaxime and ceftazidime (100%), cefazolin (96.3%), ceftriaxone (96%), cefuroxime and ceftazidime (95%), cefotaxime ((94.7%). These antibiotics also had the same amount of resistance during the pandemic. In pre-covid-19 and during covid-19, these findings were congruent with the penicillin antibiotics class, ampicillin, and piperacillin (96.3% and 92.1%), accordingly. It is presently uncertain if COVID-19 patients would develop new or growing antibiotic resistance in locations with low historical prevalence, but this should be investigated in retrospective and future clinical and microbiology research.