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LISBON, PORTUGAL — Antibiotics that are helping to treat patients with COVID-19 may actually be fueling a concerning rise in the number of superbugs infecting people worldwide. Researchers in the United States have found that cases of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections are going up in comparison to the last year before the coronavirus pandemic.

Concerningly, drug resistant infections which develop while a patient is in the hospital are soaring during COVID, and these infections are affecting those with and without the virus.

According to Dr. Karri Bauer and Dr. Vikas Gupta, approximately 1.2 million people died worldwide of an antibiotic-resistant infection in 2019. Estimates predict that number will be 10 times higher by 2050.

During the current health crisis, the researchers found that COVID-19 is challenging doctors who are trying to treat the virus without having their patients develop antimicrobial resistance (AMR) secondary infections. However, the study points to the increase in antibiotic use and disruptions in infection prevention and control practices as the two leading factors which are driving up life-threatening bacterial infections.

Study authors […]

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