Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the consumption of antibiotics and the emergence of AMR: case study in a general hospital

ObjectivesThe COVID-19 pandemic changed the use of antibiotics and had an impact on the development of antimicrobial resistance. The study aimed to examine the consumption of antibiotics and the occurrence of AMR infection and colonization in the selected general hospital.MethodsData on antibiotic c...

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Main Authors: Urška Rozman, Konrad Kranjec, Aleksander Šeruga, Urška Kramar, Dominika Vrbnjak, Miha Lavrič, Sonja Šostar Turk
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-06-01
Series:Frontiers in Public Health
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1584574/full
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author Urška Rozman
Konrad Kranjec
Aleksander Šeruga
Urška Kramar
Dominika Vrbnjak
Miha Lavrič
Sonja Šostar Turk
author_facet Urška Rozman
Konrad Kranjec
Aleksander Šeruga
Urška Kramar
Dominika Vrbnjak
Miha Lavrič
Sonja Šostar Turk
author_sort Urška Rozman
collection DOAJ
description ObjectivesThe COVID-19 pandemic changed the use of antibiotics and had an impact on the development of antimicrobial resistance. The study aimed to examine the consumption of antibiotics and the occurrence of AMR infection and colonization in the selected general hospital.MethodsData on antibiotic consumption and data on AMR infections and colonization were monitored in the period before the COVID-19 pandemic (2018, 2019) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020, 2021). Descriptive statistics, the Mann–Whitney U test, and the Pearson or Spearman correlation test were used.ResultsThe overall prescription of antibiotics stayed approximately the same, however, some important differences can be observed when analyzing specific groups of antibiotics (vancomycin, linezolid, piperacillin/tazobactam, meropenem, colistin). We did not observe the difference in the occurrence of AMR infections and colonizations before and during the pandemic. However, we did observe an alarming increase in CRaB, ESBL and VRE and highlighted the increase in all AMR groups between the first and second year of the pandemic.ConclusionThe connection between antibiotic consumption and the occurrence of AMR infections and colonization was confirmed.
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publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
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spelling doaj-art-dbd31ca2cae04f31977b8e1b189316c32025-08-20T02:10:23ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652025-06-011310.3389/fpubh.2025.15845741584574Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the consumption of antibiotics and the emergence of AMR: case study in a general hospitalUrška Rozman0Konrad Kranjec1Aleksander Šeruga2Urška Kramar3Dominika Vrbnjak4Miha Lavrič5Sonja Šostar Turk6Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Maribor, Maribor, SloveniaFaculty of Health Sciences, University of Maribor, Maribor, SloveniaGeneral Hospital Ptuj, Ptuj, SloveniaNational Laboratory of Health, Environment and Food, Maribor, SloveniaFaculty of Health Sciences, University of Maribor, Maribor, SloveniaFaculty of Health Sciences, University of Maribor, Maribor, SloveniaFaculty of Health Sciences, University of Maribor, Maribor, SloveniaObjectivesThe COVID-19 pandemic changed the use of antibiotics and had an impact on the development of antimicrobial resistance. The study aimed to examine the consumption of antibiotics and the occurrence of AMR infection and colonization in the selected general hospital.MethodsData on antibiotic consumption and data on AMR infections and colonization were monitored in the period before the COVID-19 pandemic (2018, 2019) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020, 2021). Descriptive statistics, the Mann–Whitney U test, and the Pearson or Spearman correlation test were used.ResultsThe overall prescription of antibiotics stayed approximately the same, however, some important differences can be observed when analyzing specific groups of antibiotics (vancomycin, linezolid, piperacillin/tazobactam, meropenem, colistin). We did not observe the difference in the occurrence of AMR infections and colonizations before and during the pandemic. However, we did observe an alarming increase in CRaB, ESBL and VRE and highlighted the increase in all AMR groups between the first and second year of the pandemic.ConclusionThe connection between antibiotic consumption and the occurrence of AMR infections and colonization was confirmed.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1584574/fullCOVID-19antibioticsAMRgeneral hospitalSlovenia
spellingShingle Urška Rozman
Konrad Kranjec
Aleksander Šeruga
Urška Kramar
Dominika Vrbnjak
Miha Lavrič
Sonja Šostar Turk
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the consumption of antibiotics and the emergence of AMR: case study in a general hospital
Frontiers in Public Health
COVID-19
antibiotics
AMR
general hospital
Slovenia
title Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the consumption of antibiotics and the emergence of AMR: case study in a general hospital
title_full Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the consumption of antibiotics and the emergence of AMR: case study in a general hospital
title_fullStr Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the consumption of antibiotics and the emergence of AMR: case study in a general hospital
title_full_unstemmed Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the consumption of antibiotics and the emergence of AMR: case study in a general hospital
title_short Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the consumption of antibiotics and the emergence of AMR: case study in a general hospital
title_sort impact of the covid 19 pandemic on the consumption of antibiotics and the emergence of amr case study in a general hospital
topic COVID-19
antibiotics
AMR
general hospital
Slovenia
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1584574/full
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