Bacterial respiratory co-infections of patients hospitalized with COVID-19: a prospective microbiologic study in single tertiary hospital in Kazakhstan

Abstract

<b>Background:</b> The aim of this study was to identify etiological microorganisms and antibiotic resistance rates of bacterial infection in patients with COVID-19 infection. <b>Methods:</b> A prospective microbiological study of the microbial landscape and antibiotic resistance of strains isolated from 205 patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection, hospitalized in National Scientific Medical Research Center, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. The average age of the patient was 58.7 years; men 66.1%. Identification of isolates and antibiotic susceptibility testing were performed by Vitek-2 automated system. <b>Results:</b> During study period, 186 strains from 183 clinical samples (respiratory tract, tracheobronchial tree) were included to the study. Of them, the most frequently isolated microorganisms were as follows: Streptococcus viridans group 63.5%, Candida albicans 22.8%, Acinetobacter baumannii 4.3% and Pseudomonas aeruginosa 2.2%. All isolated strains of A.baumannii are 100% resistant to quinolones, 93.3% to carbapenems and aminoglycosides, and 13.3% to trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. <b>Conclusion:</b> Based on our results, we report fungal and gram-negative bacterial infection with high level of antibiotic resistance in patients with COVID-19 infection. All this prompts the conduct of microbiological monitoring in order to make changes in the strategy of administration and treatment of these patients in accordance with the principles of the rational use of antimicrobial drugs.