Antibiotic Use in Suspected and Confirmed COVID-19 Patients Admitted to Health Facilities in Sierra Leone in 2020–2021: Practice Does Not Follow Policy

Ibrahim Franklyn Kamara, Ajay M. V. Kumar, Anna Maruta, Bobson Derrick Fofanah, Charles Kuria Njuguna, Steven Shongwe, Francis Moses, Sia Morenike Tengbe, Joseph Sam Kanu, Sulaiman Lakoh, Alie H. D. Mansaray, Kalaiselvi Selvaraj, Mohammed Khogali and Rony Zachariah
Additional contact information
Ibrahim Franklyn Kamara: World Health Organization, 21A-B Riverside, Off King Harman Road Freetown, Freetown 00232, Sierra Leone
Ajay M. V. Kumar: International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, 68 Boulevard Saint Michel, 75006 Paris, France
Anna Maruta: World Health Organization, 21A-B Riverside, Off King Harman Road Freetown, Freetown 00232, Sierra Leone
Bobson Derrick Fofanah: World Health Organization, 21A-B Riverside, Off King Harman Road Freetown, Freetown 00232, Sierra Leone
Charles Kuria Njuguna: World Health Organization, 21A-B Riverside, Off King Harman Road Freetown, Freetown 00232, Sierra Leone
Steven Shongwe: World Health Organization, 21A-B Riverside, Off King Harman Road Freetown, Freetown 00232, Sierra Leone
Francis Moses: Ministry of Health and Sanitation, 4th Floor, Youyi Building, Brookfields, Freetown 00232, Sierra Leone
Sia Morenike Tengbe: Ministry of Health and Sanitation, 4th Floor, Youyi Building, Brookfields, Freetown 00232, Sierra Leone
Joseph Sam Kanu: National Disease Surveillance Program, Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Sierra Leone National Public Health Emergency Operations Centre, Cockerill, Wilkinson Road, Freetown 00232, Sierra Leone
Sulaiman Lakoh: Ministry of Health and Sanitation, 4th Floor, Youyi Building, Brookfields, Freetown 00232, Sierra Leone
Alie H. D. Mansaray: Crops Division, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Youyi Building, Brookfields, Freetown 00232, Sierra Leone
Kalaiselvi Selvaraj: All India Institute of Medicine Sciences, Nagpur 441108, India
Mohammed Khogali: Special Program for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), World Health Organization, Avenue Appia 20, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
Rony Zachariah: Special Program for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), World Health Organization, Avenue Appia 20, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 7, 1-14

Abstract: Inappropriate use of antibiotics during the COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to increase the burden of antimicrobial resistance. In this study, we report on the prevalence of antibiotic use and its associated factors among suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients admitted to 35 health facilities in Sierra Leone from March 2020–March 2021. This was a cross-sectional study using routinely collected patient data. Of 700 confirmed COVID-19 patients, 47% received antibiotics. The majority (73%) of the antibiotics belonged to the ’WATCH’ group of antibiotics, which are highly toxic and prone to resistance. The most frequently prescribed antibiotics were azithromycin, ceftriaxone, amoxicillin, metronidazole, and amoxicillin-clavulanic acid. Antibiotic use was significantly higher in patients aged 25–34 years than in those with severe disease. Of 755 suspected COVID-19 patients, 61% received antibiotics, of which the majority (58%) belonged to the ‘WATCH’ category. The most frequently prescribed antibiotics were ceftriaxone, metronidazole, azithromycin, ciprofloxacin, and amoxycillin. The prevalence of antibiotic use among suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients admitted to healthcare facilities in Sierra Leone was high and not in line with national and WHO case management guidelines. Training of health care providers, strengthening of antimicrobial stewardship programs, and microbiological laboratory capacity are urgently needed.

Keywords: antimicrobial resistance; COVID-19; AWaRe classification; antimicrobial stewardship; antibiotic use; SORT IT; operational research; Sierra Leone (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/7/4005/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/7/4005/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:7:p:4005-:d:781210

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().