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Review
. 2021 Oct 20;13(11):2110.
doi: 10.3390/v13112110.

Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Epidemic on Antimicrobial Resistance: A Literature Review

Francesco Vladimiro Segala  1 , Davide Fiore Bavaro  2 , Francesco Di Gennaro  2 , Federica Salvati  1 , Claudia Marotta  3 , Annalisa Saracino  2 , Rita Murri  1   4 , Massimo Fantoni  1   4
Affiliations
Review

Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Epidemic on Antimicrobial Resistance: A Literature Review

Francesco Vladimiro Segala et al. Viruses. .

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance is an urgent threat to public health and global development; in this scenario, the SARS-CoV2 pandemic has caused a major disruption of healthcare systems and practices. A narrative review was conducted on articles focusing on the impact of COVID-19 on multidrug-resistant gram-negative, gram-positive bacteria, and fungi. We found that, worldwide, multiple studies reported an unexpected high incidence of infections due to methicillin-resistant S. aureus, carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, and C. auris among COVID-19 patients admitted to the intensive care unit. In this setting, inappropriate antimicrobial exposure, environmental contamination, and discontinuation of infection control measures may have driven selection and diffusion of drug-resistant pathogens.

Keywords: COVID-19; Candida auris; antimicrobial resistance; carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii; carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae; infection control; methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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