Antibiotic treatment for COVID-19 complications could fuel resistant bacteria
Sara Reardon
Abstract
In her regular job, Priya Nori runs Montefiore Medical Center’s antibiotic stewardship program, and spends most of her time ensuring that the Bronx-based hospital doesn’t overuse the drugs and allow bacteria resistant to them to thrive But like many physicians, Nori is now spending all of her time helping treat COVID-19 patients at her New York City hospital, which like other medical centers in the pandemic hot spot, is crowded with 50% more patients than normal As part of that care, she and other doctors are administering many more antibiotics than normal, which is a recipe for the rapid rise or spread of resistant bacteria, especially given the crowded conditions
Topics & Concepts
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)Antibiotics2019-20 coronavirus outbreakSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)BacteriaPandemicMicrobiologyMedicineIntensive care medicineVirologyBiologyInfectious disease (medical specialty)OutbreakDiseaseInternal medicineGeneticsAntibiotic Use and Resistance