Finding a Silver Lining in the COVID-19 Pandemic

The decline in other viral infections has triggered a drop in outpatient antibiotic use for respiratory tract infections.

The nonpharmacologic interventions implemented to address the COVID-19 pandemic led to dramatic reductions in other viral respiratory tract infections (RTIs). As antibiotics are often inappropriately prescribed for viral RTIs, investigators sought to determine if the decline in RTIs was associated with a decrease in ambulatory antibiotic use. They compared respiratory virus detections and antibiotic prescriptions per 1000 patient encounters for both RTIs and non-RTIs at a single, large Midwestern academic health system before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Compared with pre-pandemic levels, detections of winter seasonal respiratory viruses (influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, and seasonal coronavirus) fell by >99% and detections of ot…

Reviewing Author

Daniel Kaul, MD

Disclosures

Grant/Research SupportNobelpharma; Pfizer

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesAmerican Society of Transplantation (Program Committee)

Daniel Kaul, MD

Disclosures

Grant/Research SupportNobelpharma; Pfizer

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesAmerican Society of Transplantation (Program Committee)

Finding a Silver Lining in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Topics

Reviewing Author