The Frequency and the character of bacterial infection in patients with COVID-19

Abstract

The first human cases of new coronavirus (COVID-19), for the disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), were in Wuhan, in December 2019. By June 2022 there had been more than 500 million with confirmed cases of new coronavirus and over 5 million lives lost to the disease. During the earlier SARS-CoV-1 and MERSCoV epidemics, patients often developed bacterial coinfections and had a higher mortality rate. The aim of this work is to summarize the results of a study of the frequency and nature of bacterial infection in patients with COVID-19. Various studies was been in USA and countries of Asia and Europe show conflicting results regarding the prevalence of secondary bacterial infections in patients with COVID-19, from 1% to 50%. Bacterial co-infection is relatively infrequent in hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Risk factors of bacterial infections in patients with COVID-19 are more 60 years old, prolonged hospital length of stay, reanimation unit admission (severe disease COVID-19), chronic bacterial infection in anamnesis, immunosuppression therapy. The most common bacterial microorganisms identified in patients with infection of the lower respiratory tract, who hospital length of stay less than 48 hours are Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae. In patients, who hospital length of stay more than 48 hours the main pathogens are P. aeruginosa, Klebsiella spp., S. aureus. The data obtained indicate a low frequency of bacterial infections in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. Early infections are quite rare, more often bacterial infections are secondary and develop after 48 hours of the patient's stay in the hospital. The causative agents of early and late infections are different. Most often, an infection of the respiratory tract is noted, less often — the urinary system and bacterial infections of other localization.