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Review
. 2023 Aug 30;15(9):1843.
doi: 10.3390/v15091843.

Antibiotic-Resistant ESKAPE Pathogens and COVID-19: The Pandemic beyond the Pandemic

Alessia Catalano  1 , Domenico Iacopetta  2 , Jessica Ceramella  2 , Michele Pellegrino  2 , Federica Giuzio  3 , Maria Marra  2 , Camillo Rosano  4 , Carmela Saturnino  3 , Maria Stefania Sinicropi  2 , Stefano Aquaro  2
Affiliations
Review

Antibiotic-Resistant ESKAPE Pathogens and COVID-19: The Pandemic beyond the Pandemic

Alessia Catalano et al. Viruses. .

Abstract

Antibacterial resistance is a renewed public health plague in modern times, and the COVID-19 pandemic has rekindled this problem. Changes in antibiotic prescribing behavior, misinformation, financial hardship, environmental impact, and governance gaps have generally enhanced the misuse and improper access to antibiotics during the COVID-19 pandemic. These determinants, intersected with antibacterial resistance in the current pandemic, may amplify the potential for a future antibacterial resistance pandemic. The occurrence of infections with multidrug-resistant (MDR), extensively drug-resistant (XDR), difficult-to-treat drug-resistant (DTR), carbapenem-resistant (CR), and pan-drug-resistant (PDR) bacteria is still increasing. The aim of this review is to highlight the state of the art of antibacterial resistance worldwide, focusing on the most important pathogens, namely Enterobacterales, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Klebsiella pneumoniae, and their resistance to the most common antibiotics.

Keywords: COVID-19; DTR; ESKAPE; MDR; PDR; SARS-CoV-2; XDR; antibacterial resistance; antibacterials; post-COVID.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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