Use of antibiotics in respiratory viral infections

Abstract

Besides the intrinsic complications caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection, other conditions, such as bacterial infections pose an additional risk to COVID-19 patients. The study published in this issue by Moreno-Torres et al. [1] assessed the rate and predictors of bacterial infections in patients consecutively admitted with COVID-19 to a tertiary hospital in Madrid, Spain, during the first wave of COVID-19. Among 1594 hospitalized patients with COVID-19, 135 (8.5%) experienced bacterial infectious events, distributed as follows: urinary tract infections (32.6%), bacteremia (31.9%), pneumonia (31.8%), intra-abdominal infections (6.7%) and skin and soft tissue infections (6.7%). Independent predictors of bacterial infections were older age, neurological disease, prior immunosuppression, and admission to intensive care units (ICU).