Use of antibiotics and antivirals in the treatment of COVID-19 patients in the COVID outpatient clinic of Primary Healthcare Center Golubac

Abstract

Introduction: There were 13 protocols for the COVID-19 infection treatment in Serbia. All protocols emphasize the importance of not giving antibiotics routinely, especially in patients who were treated at the primary healthcare level. Use of antibiotics was widely spread in the treatment of COVID-19 patients, all around the world. Objective. We aimed at examining the incidence, type, and combination of used antibiotics and antivirals in COVID-19 patients. Method: Observational retrospective cross-sectional study on the prescription of antibiotics and antivirals in patients who were treated in the COVID clinic of the Golubac Primary Healthcare Center in the period from 7/17/2020. until 10/31/2022. The data were obtained from the electronic health records of the participants. The sample consisted of 2709 respondents. The variables we used were sex and age. We used the statistical package SPSS17 for data processing. For statistical methods, we used descriptive statistics frequency (%) and, the X2 test. Results: The research included 2,709 patients. In total, 1590 people were prescribed antibiotics. Concerning the total number of patients, examined in the COVID clinic, this represents 58.7%. The highest percentage of patients who were prescribed an antibiotic was in the period November 2020 - May 2021. Depending on the study period, cephalosporin and azithromycin are the most frequently prescribed antibiotics (70-89% of the total number of prescribed antibiotics). The most commonly prescribed antibiotic combination is a cephalosporin-fluoroquinolone. Conclusion. The use of antibiotics in the treatment of COVID-19 patients was higher than recommended in the protocols and guidelines.