Antibiotics in the Community During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study to Understand Users’ Perspectives of Antibiotic Seeking and Consumption Behaviors in Bangladesh

This study seeks to document how antibiotic medicines are sought and used during a complex health crisis, and, within different contexts, what are the nuanced reasons why patients may utilize these medicines sub-optimally. We used an exploratory, qualitative design. Forty semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with people diagnosed with COVID-19 (n=20), who had symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 (n=20), and who had received care at home in two cities between May and June 2021 in Bangladesh. In this study, an inductive thematic analysis was performed.

 Based on the results, we highly recommend the take up of a pandemic specific antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) program in the community. To deliver better outcomes of AMS, incorporating users’ perspectives could be a critical strategy. Therefore, a co-produced AMS intervention that is appropriate for a specific cultural context is an essential requirement to reduce the overuse of antibiotics during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.