Derek R MacFadden, Colleen Maxwell, Dawn Bowdish, Susan Bronskill, James Brooks, Kevin Brown, Lori L Burrows, Anna E Clarke, Bradley J Langford, Elizabeth Leung, Valerie Leung, Doug Manuel, Allison McGeer, Sharmistha Mishra, Andrew M Morris, Caroline Nott, Sumit Raybardhan, Mia E Sapin, Kevin L Schwartz, Miranda So, Jean-Paul R Soucy, Nick Daneman
{"title":"Peri-Covid-19 Antibiotic Use and Antimicrobial Resistance in Older Adults.","authors":"Derek R MacFadden, Colleen Maxwell, Dawn Bowdish, Susan Bronskill, James Brooks, Kevin Brown, Lori L Burrows, Anna E Clarke, Bradley J Langford, Elizabeth Leung, Valerie Leung, Doug Manuel, Allison McGeer, Sharmistha Mishra, Andrew M Morris, Caroline Nott, Sumit Raybardhan, Mia E Sapin, Kevin L Schwartz, Miranda So, Jean-Paul R Soucy, Nick Daneman","doi":"10.1056/EVIDoa2400108","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Antibiotic use during the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic was common in the outpatient setting, but was not supported by guidelines. We sought to evaluate the role of this antibiotic use on downstream antibiotic resistance.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We performed a population-wide cohort study of all nonhospitalized adults 66 years of age or older in Ontario, Canada, from January 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021, with a first identification of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). We evaluated the relationship between outpatient peri-Covid-19 antibiotic exposure (within a period of 7 days before or after index SARS-CoV-2 reporting) and downstream isolation of an antibiotic-resistant organism from clinical culture within 6 months. We calculated adjusted odds ratios of the association between peri-Covid-19 prescribing and antibiotic-resistant organism detection, as well as the adjusted attributable fractions of downstream antibiotic-resistant organisms.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Of the 53,533 eligible individuals included, 8228 (15%) were prescribed a peri-Covid-19 antibiotic, and 1477 (3%) had a downstream antibiotic-resistant organism identified. The adjusted odds ratio for the presence of any antibiotic-resistant organism with peri-Covid-19 antibiotic use was 1.24 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.09 to 1.41), while the adjusted odds ratio for the presence of gram-negative antibiotic-resistant organisms was 1.27 (95% CI, 1.11 to 1.46) and for gram-positive antibiotic-resistant organisms it was 1.02 (95% CI, 0.70 to 1.48). Among all individuals who received an antibiotic within 7 days of SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis, the attributable fraction of downstream antimicrobial resistance related to peri-Covid-19 antibiotic use was 17% (95% CI, 7 to 26%). Among all individuals with a SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis, the population-attributable fraction of downstream antimicrobial resistance related to peri-Covid-19 antibiotic use was 4% (95% CI, 2 to 7%).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Peri-Covid-19 antibiotic use was associated with downstream antimicrobial resistance, and particularly the presence of gram-negative antibiotic-resistant organisms. (Funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Operating Grant [grant number 179461] and others).</p>","PeriodicalId":74256,"journal":{"name":"NEJM evidence","volume":"4 10","pages":"EVIDoa2400108"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"NEJM evidence","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1056/EVIDoa2400108","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2025/9/23 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Antibiotic use during the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic was common in the outpatient setting, but was not supported by guidelines. We sought to evaluate the role of this antibiotic use on downstream antibiotic resistance.
Methods: We performed a population-wide cohort study of all nonhospitalized adults 66 years of age or older in Ontario, Canada, from January 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021, with a first identification of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). We evaluated the relationship between outpatient peri-Covid-19 antibiotic exposure (within a period of 7 days before or after index SARS-CoV-2 reporting) and downstream isolation of an antibiotic-resistant organism from clinical culture within 6 months. We calculated adjusted odds ratios of the association between peri-Covid-19 prescribing and antibiotic-resistant organism detection, as well as the adjusted attributable fractions of downstream antibiotic-resistant organisms.
Results: Of the 53,533 eligible individuals included, 8228 (15%) were prescribed a peri-Covid-19 antibiotic, and 1477 (3%) had a downstream antibiotic-resistant organism identified. The adjusted odds ratio for the presence of any antibiotic-resistant organism with peri-Covid-19 antibiotic use was 1.24 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.09 to 1.41), while the adjusted odds ratio for the presence of gram-negative antibiotic-resistant organisms was 1.27 (95% CI, 1.11 to 1.46) and for gram-positive antibiotic-resistant organisms it was 1.02 (95% CI, 0.70 to 1.48). Among all individuals who received an antibiotic within 7 days of SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis, the attributable fraction of downstream antimicrobial resistance related to peri-Covid-19 antibiotic use was 17% (95% CI, 7 to 26%). Among all individuals with a SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis, the population-attributable fraction of downstream antimicrobial resistance related to peri-Covid-19 antibiotic use was 4% (95% CI, 2 to 7%).
Conclusions: Peri-Covid-19 antibiotic use was associated with downstream antimicrobial resistance, and particularly the presence of gram-negative antibiotic-resistant organisms. (Funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Operating Grant [grant number 179461] and others).