Grau Cerrato, SantiagoEcheverría Esnal, DanielGómez-Zorrilla, SilviaNavarrete Rouco, Maria EugeniaMasclans Enviz, Joan RamonEspona, MercèGracia Arnillas, María PilarDuran Jordà, Xavier, 1974-Comas Serrano, MercèHorcajada Gallego, Juan PabloFerrández, Olivia2021-06-252021-06-252021Grau S, Echeverria-Esnal D, Gómez-Zorrilla S, Navarrete-Rouco ME, Masclans JR, Espona M, Gracia-Arnillas MP, Duran X, Comas M, Horcajada JP, Ferrández O. Evolution of antimicrobial consumption during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic. Antibiotics (Basel). 2021;10(2):132. DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics100201322079-6382http://hdl.handle.net/10230/47975Background: The first wave of COVID-19 pandemic may have significantly impacted antimicrobial consumption in hospitals. The objective of this study was to assess the evolution of antimicrobial consumption during this period. Methods: A retrospective quasi-experimental before-after study was conducted in a Spanish tertiary care hospital. The study compared two periods: pre-pandemic, from January 2018 to February 2020, and during the COVID-19 pandemic from March to June 2020. Antimicrobial consumption was analyzed monthly as defined daily doses (DDD)/100 bed-days and overall hospital and ICU consumption were evaluated. Results: An increase in the hospital consumption was noticed. Although only ceftaroline achieved statistical significance (p = 0.014), a rise was observed in most of the studied antimicrobials. A clear temporal pattern was detected. While an increase in ceftriaxone and azithromycin was observed during March, an increment in the consumption of daptomycin, carbapenems, linezolid, ceftaroline, novel cephalosporin/β-lactamase inhibitors or triazoles during April-May was noticed. In the ICU, these findings were more evident, namely ceftriaxone (p = 0.029), carbapenems (p = 0.002), daptomycin (p = 0.002), azithromycin (p = 0.030), and linezolid (p = 0.011) but followed a similar temporal pattern. Conclusion: An increase in the antimicrobial consumption during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic was noticed, especially in the ICU. Availability of updated protocols and antimicrobial stewardship programs are essential to optimize these outcomes.application/pdfeng© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://dx.doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics10020132COVID-19Antibiotic consumptionAntimicrobial resistanceAntimicrobial stewardshipDefined daily doses (DDD)info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess