ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Infectious Diseases: Epidemiology and Prevention
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1607801
This article is part of the Research TopicAntibiotic consumption in hospitals and its impact on bacterial resistanceView all 4 articles
Influence of COVID-19 pandemic on the distribution and drug resistance of pathogens in patients with bloodstream infections
Provisionally accepted
- 济宁医学院附属医院, 山东济宁, China
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Background: The pandemic of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) significantly impacted healthcare systems worldwide, especially improving awareness of infection prevention and control in medical institutions. However, it remains unclear to what extent COVID-19 influenced the occurrence of bloodstream infection (BSI). This study aimed to analyze the distribution and antibiotic resistance patterns of pathogens responsible for BSI before and after the COVID-19 pandemic in a tertiary hospital. Methods: Pathogens from patients with BSI were collected from January 2018 to December 2022. Pathogen identification was performed using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS).Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was conducted using broth microdilution, the Kirby-Bauer (K-B) disk diffusion method, and Etest. Data were analyzed using WHONET and SPSS software. This study was approved by the Medical Ethics Research Committee of the hospital (2023-11-C026).Results: Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the blood culture submission rate decreased from 12.82% to 11.07%, while the standardized blood culture positivity rate increased from 0.53% to 0.62%. Among the identified pathogens, Gram-negative bacteria accounted for 67.90%, Gram-positive bacteria for 28.82%, and fungi for 3.28%. The most frequently isolated pathogens were Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Staphylococcus aureus. The resistance rate of E.coli to ciprofloxacin increased from 60.10% to 66.84% post-pandemic, whereas K. pneumoniae showed a reduction in cefepime resistance, decreasing from 25.42% to 15.54%. Additionally, the proportion of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing E. coli increased from 35.93% to 50.63%. In contrast, S. aureus exhibited no significant changes in resistance to commonly used antibiotics post-pandemic.The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the distribution and antibiotic resistance of pathogens in patients with BSI. Notably, the prevalence of ESBL-producing E. coli were increased, while the isolation rates of other multidrug-resistant organisms remained relatively stable.
Keywords: coronavirus disease 2019, COVID-19, pandemic, Bloodstream infection, Pathogen distribution, Drug Resistance
Received: 08 Apr 2025; Accepted: 14 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Song, Wu, Liu, Li, Zhang, Li and Meng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Juan Xiu Meng, 济宁医学院附属医院, 山东济宁, China
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