A new report from the World Health Organization (WHO) has revealed the “extensive” worldwide overuse of antibiotics in hospitalised patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, which could have contributed to the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Based on data from the WHO Global Clinical Platform for COVID-19, the findings are being presented in a WHO scientific poster shared at the ESCMID Global Congress in Barcelona on 27 to 30 April.
Designated as one of the top ten global public health threats facing humanity by WHO, AMR occurs when bacteria, fungi and parasites change and adapt to antibiotics over time.
WHO used a repository of standardised individual-level anonymised clinical data from around 450,000 patients hospitalised with COVID-19 in 65 countries between January 2020 and March 2023.
WHO classifies antibiotics as per the access, watch and reserve (AWaRe) classification in accordance with the risk of AMR. The report revealed that ‘watch’ antibiotics with higher resistance potential were most frequently prescribed globally.
The report also revealed that while 8% of hospitalised COVID-19 patients had bacterial co-infections requiring antibiotics, 75% were treated with antibiotics ‘just in case’ they helped.
In the Western Pacific region, antibiotic use ranged from 33% in patients to 83% in patients from the Eastern Mediterranean and the African regions.
In addition, the highest rate of antibiotic use was reported to be seen in a global average of 81% among patients with severe or critical COVID-19. There was a considerable variation across regions for mild or moderate cases, with the highest use in the African region at 79%.
“This data calls for improvements in the rational use of antibiotics to minimise unnecessary negative consequences for patients and populations,” explained Dr Silvia Bertagnolio, WHO unit head for surveillance, evidence and laboratory strengthening, division for AMR.
Overuse of unnecessary antibiotics “offers no benefit while posing risks and… [contributing] to the emergence and spread of AMR,” added Bertagnolio.
To be discussed ahead of the upcoming UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on AMR in September, global leaders will come together to mitigate AMR across human health, animal health, agri-food sectors and the environment, as well as to promote political leadership, financing and actions to slow down AMR.