An Indian microbiologist said that the usage of antibiotics, mainly the ones that the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended preserving for the difficult-to-treat cases, might be worsening the “already alarming antimicrobial resistance levels” in COVID-19 patients. She added that the fear of missing a secondary infection and lack of therapy for COVID-19 led to the over-prescription of antibiotics, Bloomberg Quint reports.

Also read | Apollo Hospitals begins antibody cocktail therapy for COVID patients

The microbiologist, named Kamini Walia works at the Indian Council of Medical Research, along with her colleagues conducted a study on the issue. According to data, a lot of over-prescribing of antimicrobials was done when the COVID cases were on the surge, Bloomberg Quint reports. 

Research, published in the journal ‘Infection and Drug Resistance’, after studying 17,534 COVID-19 cases, said that 640 patients had a secondary infection, which is 3.6% of all the cases that were studied. The incidence was found to have been as high as 28% in a few other hospitals. The fatality rate of patients with secondary infections was as high as 60%, said the study, Bloomberg Quint reports.

Also read | UK approves single-shot Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine

Most of them who died had hypertension, diabetes or other underlying medical condition which are known to worsen the impact of COVID-19. “It shows that if Covid doesn’t kill you, these secondary infections can”, said the director of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy in New Delhi, Bloomberg Quint reports.