More than half of the COVID-19 patients who developed bacterial or fungal infections died, a recent study conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has revealed.
The study was conducted across 10 hospitals, including two (Sion and Hinduja) in Mumbai. A total of 17,000 COVID-19 patients were studied and of them, 4 percent developed a secondary infection. The mortality rate among the people with secondary infection was recorded at 56.7 percent during the study.
What is a secondary infection?
Secondary infection is the one triggered by another infection, for instance, mucormycosis (or black fungus) is a secondary infection as it hits a patient during or after the treatment of COVID-19. Similarly, variants of Klebsiella pneumonia, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were found to be among the most common bacterial infections, according to the study.
Moreover, these bacterial infections have been described as 'drug resistant' which means they can't be treated with usual antibiotics.
What may be worsening the COVID-19 crisis in India?
The findings of the ICMR study suggest that the overuse of antibiotics and superbugs is the likely cause behind the worsening COVID-19 crisis in India. In cases where the patient has a prolonged stay in the hospital for treatment of the viral disease, the chances of the person catching a bacterial or fungal infection increase due to higher doses of antibiotics, according to a Times of India report.
A doctor quoted in the report explains that overuse of antibiotics depletes the body of essential (or the good) bacteria and makes one vulnerable to such secondary infections.
Senior doctors have also suggested that the use of antibiotics should be reduced after the condition of the COVID-infected patient improves to ward off the chances of a secondary infection.
First Published: May 28, 2021 12:00 PM IST
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