Multi-drug resistant : a 2019-2020 single center retrospective case control study.

UNLABELLED

Multi-drug resistance in the post COVID-19 world is a growing concern. The objective of this study was to describe temporal trends and explore independent risk factors for the isolation of multi-drug resistant (MDR)

METHODS

This was a retrospective case-control study of patients with isolates recovered from January 2019 to December 2020. MDR was defined as non-susceptibility to at least one agent in three or more anti-pseudomonal antimicrobial categories.

RESULTS

In total, 258 unique isolates were identified. Prolonged hospitalization (<0.001), prior antibiotic use (<0.001), and respiratory sources (<0.001) were strongly associated with the presence of MDR . From 2019 to 2020, there was a decrease in the total number of isolates but a significant increase in the proportion of MDR isolates (=0.015).

CONCLUSIONS

Over a period that coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an increased proportion of MDR isolates from hospitalized patients. Improved identification of patients at risk for MDR could facilitate appropriate empiric antibiotic decisions like dual anti-pseudomonal therapy. The features of the COVID-19 outbreak that had a severe impact on patient care and that may have affected drug resistance in other respiratory pathogens should be explored.