Background: Studies on previous viral pandemics showed poorer outcomes of patients with concomitant bacterial infection. During the early period of COVID-19 pandemic, empiric antibiotic therapy is commonly given among COVID-19 patients despite lack of strong recommendations for its use. Objectives: We determined the prevalence of bacterial co-infection and of empiric use of antibiotics among COVID-19 admissions. We also determined association between COVID-19 severity, ICU admissions, length of hospital stay, and mortality outcomes of those with and without bacterial co-infection. Methods: A total of 159 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 from April 2020 to April 2021 were analyzed in this crosssectional chart review study. Data on empiric antibiotic administration and cultures taken within 3 days of admission were collected. Chi-square, Fischer-Exact, and T-tests were used to analyze the data. Results: Empiric antibiotics were given in 94.97% of COVID-19 admissions with azithromycin as the most common agent. The prevalence of bacterial co-infection among COVID-19 admitted patients was 10%. There were higher ICU admissions and longer hospital stay among those with bacterial co-infection although it did not reach statistical significance. No mortality was seen among patients with bacterial co-infection. Conclusion There was a high use of empiric antibiotic treatment in hospitalized COVID-19 patients despite the low prevalence of bacterial co-infection among these cases. This warrants development of strategies for antimicrobial stewardship programs especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19 ; Pneumonia