Bacterial coinfections with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Glen Huang; Daisuke Furukawa; Bryant D Yang; Brian J Kim; Arthur C Jeng

doi:10.1017/ash.2021.187

Bacterial coinfections with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Antimicrob Steward Healthc Epidemiol. 2021 Nov 10;1(1):e45. doi: 10.1017/ash.2021.187. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Glen Huang¹, Daisuke Furukawa¹, Bryant D Yang¹, Brian J Kim², Arthur C Jeng^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of California - Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California.
² Department of Pharmacy, Olive View - University of California Los Angeles Medical Center, Sylmar, California.
³ Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Olive View - University of California Los Angeles Medical Center, Sylmar, California.

Abstract

Background: The pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has dramatically increased cheshospitalizations, and it is often difficult to determine whether there is a bacterial or fungal coinfection at time of presentation. In this study, we sought to determine the rates of coinfection and utilization of antibiotics in SARS-CoV-2 disease.

Methods: Retrospective chart review of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 pneumonia from April 13, 2020, to July 14, 2020.

Results: In total, 277 patients were hospitalized for COVID-19 pneumonia during this period. Patients that received antibiotics within 48 hours of presentation were more likely to be febrile (59.3% vs 41.2%; P = .01) and to have leukocytosis (23.9% vs 5.9%; P < .01) and were less likely to have a procalcitonin level <0.25 ng/mL (58.8% vs 74.5%; P = .04). In total, 45 patients had positive blood cultures collected during hospitalization, 16 of which were clinically significant. Of the clinically significant blood cultures, 5 were collected <48 hours of admission. Moreover, 18 sputum cultures were clinically significant, 2 of which were collected within 48 hours of admission.

Conclusion: Bacterial and fungal coinfections in COVID-19 appear to be rare on presentation; thus, this factor may be a good target for enhanced antibiotic stewardship.