[Translated article] Influence of SARS-CoV-2 infection on the use of ceftazidime-avibactam in the critical patient.

Objective: The objective of the study was to analyse possible changes in antibiotic policy with ceftazidime-avibactam during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) to determine patient mortality 28 days after initiation of antimicrobial therapy and to describe the microorganisms that most frequently colonise critically ill patients.

Material and method: Observational, single-centre, cohort study that included patients on treatment with ceftazidime-avibactam in ICU between March 2020 and September 2021. Demographic (age, sex), microbiological (colonisation, microorganisms isolated in blood cultures), pharmacotherapeutic (duration of treatment with ceftazidime-avibactam, antimicrobials used in synergy with ceftazidime-avibactam) and clinical (mortality, length of hospital stay and comorbidities) variables were collected. As associated comorbidities, we identified how many of the patients included in the study had diabetes mellitus (DM), chronic kidney disease (CKD), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or obesity.

Results: Eighty-nine patients were included, 85.39% of whom were male. Forty-nine patients were infected with Sars-CoV-2. Median ICU stay was 46 days (RIQ = 58-27) in SARS-CoV-2 infected and 34 days (RIQ = 51-24) in non-infected patients. Patients were on ceftazidime-avibactam treatment for a median of 8 days (RIQ = 13-4), being 7 days (RIQ = 11-2) in COVID-19 positive patients and 11 days (RIQ = 14-6) in COVID-19 negative patients (p > 0.05). Empirical treatment with ceftazidime-avibactam was started empirically in 41.57% (n = 37) of the patients. The percentage of empiric initiations in SARS-CoV-2 infected patients was 43% and in non-infected patients 40%, with no statistically significant difference between empiric initiation according to SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic status (p > 0.05). A total of 43.8% (n = 39) of the patients were colonised by a multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterium. Regarding on the microorganisms that colonised patients had, the most frequent was Klebsiella pneumoniae, present in 66.6% of patients (n = 26 patients). Overall mortality was 41.6%, with no statistically significant differences between SARS-CoV-2 infected and non-infected patients (42.9% and 40%, respectively; p > 0.05).

Conclusion: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic did not lead to a change in the criteria for the use of ceftazidime-avibactam in the critically ill patient.