Confronting trends of antibiotic resistance beyond the COVID-19 pandemic: insight from five worst hit countries

Abstract

Antibiotic resistance is and has been a prominent obstacle prior to the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the inability to efficiently treat the newly discovered coronavirus disease and the rise of bacterial co-infections in COVID-19 patients, the consumption of antibiotics increased drastically. Although the COVID-19 situation has somewhat contributed to reducing the spread of infections, the increment in antibiotic resistance is still a significant consequence. This emergence of increased rates is a global issue. The purpose of this review is to study the trend of antibiotic resistance before and since the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil, China, India, Russia, and The United States of America. It was found that the most troublesome pathogens with the highest resistance rates in Brazil were Acinetobacter spp. The said bacterium species had developed peak resistance against meropenem, ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, and amikacin. Also, China had incredibly susceptible pathogens resistant towards macrolides, penicillins, and aminoglycosides; however, not much change was witnessed in the resistance rates of several pathogens. In India, increased usage of azithromycin led to the emergence of macrolide resistance among various bacterial pathogens, whereas the perpetual usage of doxycycline had not yet resulted in any tetracycline resistance. Although, the occurrence of fungal infections had enlarged, causing COVID-19-associated mucormycosis more frequent among the Indian population. While commonly present pathogens in Russia were extremely resistant to most antibiotic classes, Acinetobacter baumannii was the chief resistant bacterium reported. The United States of America was recognized with concentrated resistance against vancomycin, fluoroquinolones, and extended-spectrum β-lactamase producing antibiotics. This alarming rate of growing antibiotic resistance in world’s battle with COVID-19 is indeed a matter of concern.