Prevalence of Antibiotic use in Patients with COVID -19 in a Local Hospital in Kosovo : A Retrospective Descriptive Study
Fitim Alidema1
, Gentijana Hasani2, Arieta Hasani Alidema3 and Minire Alilaj-Beqiraj1*1Faculty of Pharmacy, University for Business and Technology, UBT, Pristina, Kosovo.
2Faculty Public Health and Management, University for Business and Technology, UBT, Pristina, Kosovo.
3Faculty on Nursing, University for Business and Technology, UBT, Pristina, Kosovo.
Corresponding Author E-mail:minire.alijaj@ubt-uni.net
Abstract: Introduction: Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a notable escalation in the administration of antibiotics among hospitalized individuals on a global scale. This trend holds the potential to exacerbate the prevailing issue of antibiotic resistance on a worldwide level. Purpose: The overarching purpose of this paper was to analyze the use of antibiotics in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 at a local hospital in a city of Kosovo during the period October 2020 to January 2021. Methodology: The work retrospectively analyzes the data of patients treated with COVID-19 at a Local Hospital in a city of Kosovo in the internal ward and included 300 patients, where the health records of hospitalized patients were used. Results: Based on the collected data, it appears that the most used empiric antibiotic in the ward was Levofloxacin and Ceftriaxone, the duration of the use of antibiotics per day was different in patients hospitalized with COVID-19, starting with Levofloxacin that was given every 24 hours, Imipenem every 12 hours and Ceftriaxone every 8 hours. Reasons for the use of antibiotics were: Disease burden, markers of inflammation, and radiological changes. According to the age group, the most infected group included the age between 51-70 years old with 44% and the smallest percentage was of the age group between 91-100 years old with 2%. Conclusions: The escalation in antibiotic usage among hospitalized patients during the pandemic has also impacted our nation, Kosovo, where such medications were consistently prescribed since the onset of the pandemic. Our observations reveal that Imipenem, Levofloxacin, and Ceftriaxone emerged as the most frequently utilized antibiotics.
Keywords: Antibiotics; COVID 19; ICU; Patients Resistance Back to TOC