On March 27, the Transactions of The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene published a journal article by Jesús Rodríguez-Baño et al. (co-authored by GSL Director Steven Hoffman) on the potential impacts COVID-19 might be having on global antimicrobial resistance.
In the piece, the authors argue that antibiotic use during the COVID-19 pandemic has exceeded the incidence of bacterial co-infections and secondary infections, suggesting inappropriate and excessive prescribing. Even in countries with established antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programmes, there were weaknesses exposed regarding appropriate antibiotic use in the context of the pandemic.
Moreover, they explain that AMR surveillance and AMS have been deprioritized with the diversion of health system resources going to the pandemic response. This experience highlights deficiencies in AMR containment and mitigation strategies that require urgent attention from clinical and scientific communities.
Read the full article here.
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