Inflammation in COVID-19: A Risk for Superinfections

Abstract

The worldwide coronavirus pandemic has been one of the most significant health crisis threats in recent years. COVID-19 has not been the only cause of mortality in this pandemic. A dangerous but frequent complication of viral infections is secondary superinfection or superimposed bacterial infection. Despite lacking data on the prevalence, microbiology, and outcomes of co-infection and superinfection, limited publications have reported the high incidence of severe infection in COVID-19 patients and its effect on mortality. Those who have severe clinical symptoms of the disease, and others requiring prolonged stay in intensive care units (ICU), are more susceptible to developing superinfections by nosocomial pathogens. Ventilator-acquired pneumonia (VAP) is the most common type of infection observed among COVID-19 patients, followed by bacteraemia with sepsis, and urinary tract infections (UTI). There is an urgent need for prospective studies to provide epidemiological, clinical, and microbiological data on superinfections, which can be used to form effective antimicrobial guidelines that could have an important role in disease outcomes.