Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Epidemic on Antimicrobial Resistance: A Literature Review

Overview

Journal Viruses

Publisher MDPI

Specialty Microbiology

Date 2021 Nov 27

PMID 34834917

Citations 62

Authors

Francesco Vladimiro Segala

Davide Fiore Bavaro

Francesco Di Gennaro

Federica Salvati

Claudia Marotta

Annalisa Saracino

Rita Murri

Massimo Fantoni

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance is an urgent threat to public health and global development; in this scenario, the SARS-CoV2 pandemic has caused a major disruption of healthcare systems and practices. A narrative review was conducted on articles focusing on the impact of COVID-19 on multidrug-resistant gram-negative, gram-positive bacteria, and fungi. We found that, worldwide, multiple studies reported an unexpected high incidence of infections due to methicillin-resistant , carbapenem-resistant , carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, and among COVID-19 patients admitted to the intensive care unit. In this setting, inappropriate antimicrobial exposure, environmental contamination, and discontinuation of infection control measures may have driven selection and diffusion of drug-resistant pathogens.

Citing Articles

Improving Antibiotic Use in Argentine Pediatric Hospitals: A Process Evaluation Using Normalization Process Theory.

Roberti J, Jorro-Baron F, Ini N, Guglielmino M, Rodriguez A, Echave C Pediatr Qual Saf. 2025; 10(1):e788.

PMID: 39776948 PMC: 11703432. DOI: 10.1097/pq9.0000000000000788.

Clonal shift and impact of azithromycin use on antimicrobial resistance of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from bloodstream infection during the COVID-19 pandemic.

de Oliveira Whitaker C, de Oliveira T, Ferreira A, Nouer S, Chamon R, Dos Santos K Sci Rep. 2025; 15(1):597.

PMID: 39753666 PMC: 11699283. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-84307-1.

Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of clinical carbapenem-resistant species harboring the metallo-beta-lactamases IMP-8 or NDM-1 in China.

Xu Q, Mu X, He J, Liu H, Liu X, Wang Y Microbiol Spectr. 2024; 13(2):e0115824.

PMID: 39727411 PMC: 11792499. DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.01158-24.

A meta-analysis highlights the idiosyncratic nature of tradeoffs in laboratory models of virus evolution.

Kabengele K, Turner W, Turner P, Ogbunugafor C Virus Evol. 2024; 10(1):veae105.

PMID: 39717708 PMC: 11665823. DOI: 10.1093/ve/veae105.

Outbreak with OXA-23-producing Acinetobacter baumannii in a COVID-19 ICU cohort: unraveling routes of transmission.

Zingg S, Kuster S, von Rotz M, Portmann A, Egli A, Seth-Smith H Antimicrob Resist Infect Control. 2024; 13(1):127.

PMID: 39427188 PMC: 11491009. DOI: 10.1186/s13756-024-01485-3.

References

Arastehfar A, Shaban T, Zarrinfar H, Roudbary M, Ghazanfari M, Hedayati M . Candidemia among Iranian Patients with Severe COVID-19 Admitted to ICUs. J Fungi (Basel). 2021; 7(4). PMC: 8068363. DOI: 10.3390/jof7040280. View

Dumitru I, Dumitrascu M, Vlad N, Cernat R, Ilie-Serban C, Hangan A . Carbapenem-Resistant Associated with COVID-19. Antibiotics (Basel). 2021; 10(5). PMC: 8151469. DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics10050561. View

Wiederhold N, Verweij P . Aspergillus fumigatus and pan-azole resistance: who should be concerned?. Curr Opin Infect Dis. 2020; 33(4):290-297. DOI: 10.1097/QCO.0000000000000662. View

Duran-Manuel E, Cruz-Cruz C, Ibanez-Cervantes G, Bravata-Alcantara J, Sosa-Hernandez O, Delgado-Balbuena L . Clonal dispersion of Acinetobacter baumannii in an intensive care unit designed to patients COVID-19. J Infect Dev Ctries. 2021; 15(1):58-68. DOI: 10.3855/jidc.13545. View

Villanueva-Lozano H, Trevino-Rangel R, Gonzalez G, Ramirez-Elizondo M, Lara-Medrano R, Aleman-Bocanegra M . Outbreak of Candida auris infection in a COVID-19 hospital in Mexico. Clin Microbiol Infect. 2021; . PMC: 7835657. DOI: 10.1016/j.cmi.2020.12.030. View

Bardi T, Pintado V, Gomez-Rojo M, Escudero-Sanchez R, Azzam Lopez A, Diez-Remesal Y . Nosocomial infections associated to COVID-19 in the intensive care unit: clinical characteristics and outcome. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis. 2021; 40(3):495-502. PMC: 7778834. DOI: 10.1007/s10096-020-04142-w. View

Yang S, Hua M, Liu X, Du C, Pu L, Xiang P . Bacterial and fungal co-infections among COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit. Microbes Infect. 2021; 23(4-5):104806. PMC: 7933791. DOI: 10.1016/j.micinf.2021.104806. View

Van Tyne D, Manson A, Huycke M, Karanicolas J, Earl A, Gilmore M . Impact of antibiotic treatment and host innate immune pressure on enterococcal adaptation in the human bloodstream. Sci Transl Med. 2019; 11(487). PMC: 6681809. DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aat8418. View

Alanio A, Delliere S, Fodil S, Bretagne S, Megarbane B . Prevalence of putative invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in critically ill patients with COVID-19. Lancet Respir Med. 2020; 8(6):e48-e49. PMC: 7239617. DOI: 10.1016/S2213-2600(20)30237-X. View

10.

Alhazzani W, Moller M, Arabi Y, Loeb M, Gong M, Fan E . Surviving Sepsis Campaign: guidelines on the management of critically ill adults with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Intensive Care Med. 2020; 46(5):854-887. PMC: 7101866. DOI: 10.1007/s00134-020-06022-5. View

11.

Gupta R, George R, Nguyen-Van-Tam J . Bacterial pneumonia and pandemic influenza planning. Emerg Infect Dis. 2008; 14(8):1187-92. PMC: 2600366. DOI: 10.3201/eid1408.070751. View

12.

Rutsaert L, Steinfort N, Van Hunsel T, Bomans P, Naesens R, Mertes H . COVID-19-associated invasive pulmonary aspergillosis. Ann Intensive Care. 2020; 10(1):71. PMC: 7265874. DOI: 10.1186/s13613-020-00686-4. View

13.

Shinohara D, Dos Santos Saalfeld S, Martinez H, Altafini D, Costa B, Fedrigo N . Outbreak of endemic carbapenem-resistant in a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-specific intensive care unit. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2021; 43(6):815-817. PMC: 7985906. DOI: 10.1017/ice.2021.98. View

14.

Granata G, Bartoloni A, Codeluppi M, Contadini I, Cristini F, Fantoni M . The Burden of Clostridioides Difficile Infection during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Retrospective Case-Control Study in Italian Hospitals (CloVid). J Clin Med. 2020; 9(12). PMC: 7761275. DOI: 10.3390/jcm9123855. View

15.

Pascale R, Bussini L, Gaibani P, Bovo F, Fornaro G, Lombardo D . Carbapenem-resistant bacteria in an intensive care unit during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic: A multicenter before-and-after cross-sectional study. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2021; 43(4):461-466. PMC: 8365044. DOI: 10.1017/ice.2021.144. View

16.

Langford B, So M, Raybardhan S, Leung V, Soucy J, Westwood D . Antibiotic prescribing in patients with COVID-19: rapid review and meta-analysis. Clin Microbiol Infect. 2021; 27(4):520-531. PMC: 7785281. DOI: 10.1016/j.cmi.2020.12.018. View

17.

Koehler P, Bassetti M, Chakrabarti A, Chen S, Colombo A, Hoenigl M . Defining and managing COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis: the 2020 ECMM/ISHAM consensus criteria for research and clinical guidance. Lancet Infect Dis. 2020; 21(6):e149-e162. PMC: 7833078. DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30847-1. View

18.

Bavaro D, Belati A, Diella L, Stufano M, Romanelli F, Scalone L . Cefiderocol-Based Combination Therapy for "Difficult-to-Treat" Gram-Negative Severe Infections: Real-Life Case Series and Future Perspectives. Antibiotics (Basel). 2021; 10(6). PMC: 8227820. DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics10060652. View

19.

Rezasoltani S, Yadegar A, Hatami B, Aghdaei H, Zali M . Antimicrobial Resistance as a Hidden Menace Lurking Behind the COVID-19 Outbreak: The Global Impacts of Too Much Hygiene on AMR. Front Microbiol. 2021; 11:590683. PMC: 7769770. DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.590683. View

20.

Falcone M, Tiseo G, Nicastro M, Leonildi A, Vecchione A, Casella C . Cefiderocol as Rescue Therapy for Acinetobacter baumannii and Other Carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative Infections in Intensive Care Unit Patients. Clin Infect Dis. 2020; 72(11):2021-2024. DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciaa1410. View