COVID-19 drug practices risk antimicrobial resistance evolution
Ebrahim Afshinnekoo, Chandrima Bhattacharya, Ana I. Burguete-García, Eduardo Castro‐Nallar, Youping Deng, Christelle Desnues, Emmanuel Dias‐Neto, Eran Elhaik, Gregorio Iraola, Soojin Jang, Paweł P. Łabaj, Christopher E. Mason, Niranjan Nagarajan, Michael Poulsen, Bharath Prithiviraj, Rania Siam, Tieliu Shi, Haruo Suzuki, Johannes Werner, María Mercedes Zambrano, Malay Bhattacharyya
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance is one of the biggest challenges facing modern medicine. Because the management of COVID-19 is increasingly becoming dependent on pharmacological interventions, there is greater risk for accelerating the evolution and spread of antimicrobial resistance. A study in a tertiary hospital environment revealed concerning colonisation patterns of microbes during extended periods.1 It also highlighted the diversity of antimicrobial resistance gene reservoirs in hospitals that could facilitate the emergence and transmission of new modes of antibiotic resistance.