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Review
. 2022 Jul 4;11(7):894.
doi: 10.3390/antibiotics11070894.

Bacterial Co-Infection in Patients with COVID-19 Hospitalized (ICU and Not ICU): Review and Meta-Analysis

Adailton P Santos  1 , Lucas C Gonçalves  1 , Ana C C Oliveira  1 , Pedro H P Queiroz  1 , Célia R M Ito  2 , Mônica O Santos  1 , Lilian C Carneiro  2
Affiliations
Review

Bacterial Co-Infection in Patients with COVID-19 Hospitalized (ICU and Not ICU): Review and Meta-Analysis

Adailton P Santos et al. Antibiotics (Basel). .

Abstract

The prevalence of patients hospitalized in ICUs with COVID-19 and co-infected by pathogenic bacteria is relevant in this study, considering the integrality of treatment. This systematic review assesses the prevalence of co-infection in patients admitted to ICUs with SARS-CoV-2 infection, using the PRISMA guidelines. We examined the results of the PubMed, Embase, and SciELO databases, searching for published English literature from December 2019 to December 2021. A total of 542 rec ords were identified, but only 38 were eligible and, and of these only 10 were included. The tabulated studies represented a sample group of 1394 co-infected patients. In total, 35%/138 of the patients were co-infected with Enterobacter spp., 27% (17/63) were co-infected with methicillin-sensitive Staphylococ cus aureus, 21% (84/404) were co-infected with Klebsiella spp., 16% (47/678) of patients were co-infected with coagulase-negative Staphylococcus, 13% (10/80) co-infected with Escherichia coli (ESBL), and 3% (30/1030) of patients were co-infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The most common co-infections were related to blood flow; although in the urinary and respiratory tracts of patients Streptococcus pneumoniae was found in 57% (12/21) of patients, coagulase negative Staphylococcus in 44% (7/16) of patients, and Escherichia coli was found in 37% (11/29) of patients. The present research demonstrated that co-infections caused by bacteria in patients with COVID-19 are a concern.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; bacterial co-infections; public health.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA schematic selection process of the included studies at each stage of the screening process.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Forest plot graph: showing the subgroup (genus and bacterial species) and their respective proportions by co-infection.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Bacterial species and their proportions in relation to blood flow, respiratory tract, and urinary tract.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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