Considerations for AMR in the Covid-19 pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic reinforces the importance of preventative measures such as vaccination and antimicrobial treatments in maintaining human health. Similarly, controlling infectious agents is necessary to sustain the global economy and societal functionality. Bacterial co-infections are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality during viral infections and are already being reported as having a significant impact in the context of Covid-19.

The Covid-19 pandemic highlights the need to understand the complex connections between bacterial and viral infections. It is important to consider that patients in countries that have used high levels of antibiotics may also now face further complications during co-infection by antibiotic resistant bacteria. In the current situation appropriate and systematic testing of Covid-19 patients presenting with a bacterial co-infection should be conducted in order to choose the correct antibiotic to increase the survival of patients and limit the spread of AMR. The use of rapid diagnostics promoting the use of effective narrow-spectrum antibiotics should be used where possible.