# P-1659. Impact of Multidrug resistant pathogens through Pre-COVID, COVID and Post-COVID Times in a tertiary care hospital – A Retrospective cohort Study

## TL;DR

This study shows that antibiotic-resistant bacteria increased during the COVID-19 pandemic in a hospital in India.

## Contribution

The study tracks changes in multidrug-resistant pathogens before, during, and after the pandemic in a single hospital.

## Key findings

- Multidrug-resistant pathogens increased during the COVID period compared to pre-COVID times.
- Carbapenem-resistant organisms (CRO) and Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) showed significant increases during the pandemic.
- Gram-positive bacteria decreased while yeast isolates increased during the study period.

## Abstract

The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on extended-spectrum beta-lactamase inhibitor (ESBL) producing Enterobacteriaceae, Carbapenem-resistant organism (CRO), Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). This study aims to demonstrate the variations in multidrug resistance levels between the pre-COVID, COVID, and post-COVID periods.

This retrospective cohort study conducted between January 2018-March 2024 at a tertiary hospital in India. January 2018-March 2020 (Pre-COVID), April 2020-July 2022 (COVID) and August 2022-March 2024 (Post-COVID). We systematically collected organism cultures, and analysed multidrug-resistant organism details using descriptive statistics.

During the study period, a total of 10,915 isolates were analysed, revealing an increase in multidrug-resistant pathogens during the COVID period. Specifically, the percentages of CRO were increased to 21.1%, VRE was increased to 7.2%, gram-positive was being decreased and yeast has been increased as shown in Table 1.Table 1:Cumulative summary of multidrug-resistant organisms reported during Pre-COVID, COVID and Post-COVIDYEARTOTAL ISOLATESGNB ISOLATESGPC ISOLATESYEAST ISOLATESESBLCROMRSAVREPre-COVID (January2018-March2020)37262584(69.3%)867(23.2%)275(7.3%)1311(50.7%)458(17.7%)285(32.8%)34(3.9%)COVID (April2020-July2022)46113308(71.7%)995(21.5%)308(9.3%)1896(57.3%)701(21.1%)332(33.3%)72(7.2%)Post-COVID (August2022-March2024)25781828(70.9%)496(19.2%)125(4.8%)1014(55.4%)326(17.8%)98(19.7%)24(4.8%)

Cumulative summary of multidrug-resistant organisms reported during Pre-COVID, COVID and Post-COVID

This study indicates a significant increase in multidrug-resistant pathogens, particularly during the COVID-19 period. The prevalence of ESBL-producing organisms, CRO, MRSA, and VRE exhibited notable spikes during this time, highlighting the impact of the pandemic on antimicrobial resistance patterns in the hospital.

All Authors: No reported disclosures