Dynamics of Reserve Antimicrobial Drug Consumption in Russian Hospitals: Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The aim of the study is the assessment of the resistance levels dynamics in clinically significant infectious agents based on the consumption dynamics of antimicrobial drugs potentially effective against bacteria with acquired drug resistance in the hospitals of the Russian Federation during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020–2022) in comparison with 2019. Material and methods . Data on antimicrobial drugs used in the Russian Federation in the period 2019–2022 in the hospital segment were downloaded from the database provided by the analytical company AlphaRM. Calculation of the indicator «Frequency of prescribing antimicrobial drugs effective against multidrug-resistant pathogens per year» in each year of observation was performed. Results . During the COVID-19 pandemic, an almost twofold increase was registered in the frequency of prescribing antimicrobial drugs potentially effective against resistant strains of both Gram-negative and Gram-positive pathogens in the hospital segment: from 1.2 in 2019 to 2% in 2021; with a subsequent decrease to 1.92% in 2022 for antimicrobial drugs effective against Gram-negative pathogens; from 0.47 in 2019 to 1.17% in 2022 for antimicrobial drugs potentially effective against Gram-positive pathogens. Conclusions. Due to the fact that the appointment of antimicrobial drugs, potentially effective against resistant strains of Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens, is carried out not only in cases of confirmed bacterial infections, but also empirically, and taking into account the nosocomial nature of secondary bacterial infections, further epidemiological and pharmacoepidemiological studies are required to assess the contribution of excessive consumption of antimicrobial drugs in the escalation of the problem of bacterial resistance.