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. 2021 Jun;32(2):330-337.
doi: 10.1007/s13337-021-00695-2. Epub 2021 May 25.

The potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on antimicrobial resistance and antibiotic stewardship

Supram Hosuru Subramanya  1 , Daniel M Czyż  2 , Krishna Prasad Acharya  3 , Hilary Humphreys  4   5
Affiliations

The potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on antimicrobial resistance and antibiotic stewardship

Supram Hosuru Subramanya et al. Virusdisease. 2021 Jun.

Abstract

The rapid emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance continue to kill an estimated 700,000 people annually, and this number is projected to increase ten-fold by 2050. With the lack of data, it is uncertain how the COVID-19 pandemic will affect antimicrobial resistance. Severe disruption of research, innovation, global health programs, and compromised antimicrobial stewardship, infection prevention and control programs, especially in low-and middle-income countries, could affect antimicrobial resistance. However, factors such as strict lockdown, social distancing, vaccination, and the extensive implementation of hand hygiene and face masks, with limited international travel and migration, may also contribute to decreasing AMR. Although the impact of COVID-19 on AMR is global, the adverse effect is likely to be worse in LMICs. In this article, we explore the possible impact of the current pandemic on antibiotic resistance.

Keywords: Antibiotics; Antimicrobial resistance; COVID-19; Coronavirus; LMIC.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interestHH has recently been in receipt of research funding from Astellas and Pfizer has received a consultancy fee from Pfizer in the last three years. All other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The impact of COVID-19 on Antimicrobial Resistance. The factors that decrease AMR include the implementation of face masks, social distancing, increased hand hygiene, mandatory lockdowns, stay-at-home orders, vaccination, and travel disruption. The factors contributing to AMR include limited resources, disruption in research, remote medicine/dentistry, overprescription of antibiotics, nosocomial infections, and overwhelmed healthcare. Created using a paid license with BioRender.com
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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