The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
STORYLINE
Three out of four patients have been treated with antibiotics during the pandemic “just in case” they help: WHO
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that there was widespread misuse of antibiotics throughout the global COVID-19 pandemic that has potentially fuelled the propagation of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
While only eight percent of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 had bacterial co-infections requiring antibiotics, three out of four patients were given them, “just in case” they helped.
“The advice was very clear right from the start. This was a virus. So it wasn't that that there was a guidance or recommendation that clinicians go in this direction,” said Dr Margaret Harris, WHO spokesperson, at a news briefing at UN Geneva. “But perhaps because people were dealing with something completely new, they were looking for whatever they thought might be appropriate.”
Antibiotic use ranged from 33 per cent for patients in the Western Pacific Region to 83 per cent in the Eastern Mediterranean and the African Regions. Between 2020 and 2022, prescriptions decreased over time in Europe and the Americas, while they increased in Africa.
The highest rate of antibiotic use was seen among patients with severe or critical COVID-19, with a global average of 81 per cent. In mild or moderate cases, there was a considerable variation across regions, with the highest use in the African Region, at 79 per cent.
“The only time you would use antibiotics when you've got a viral infection is if you had a secondary, proven, bacterial infection that was sensitive to those antibiotics,” said Dr. Harris. “So in other words, there were not being used appropriately. […] The main harm, of course, is that if you are using antibiotics, you're unnecessarily you're increasing the likelihood of antimicrobial resistance to those particular antibiotics so that when you do need them for your bacterial infection, they are no longer so useful.”
WHO said it was concerning that its study found that the antibiotics used had higher antimicrobial resistance potential than others that were available.
“If you give somebody a medication that they don't actually need, you are always exposing them to an unnecessary risk,” explained Dr. Harris. “Every time you treat a person for any illness with any medication, a doctor will balance will this medication do the job and prevent whatever the disease is and is that a more important outcome than any of the potential risks.”
These findings are based on data from the WHO Global Clinical Platform for COVID-19, an anonymized clinical data from patients hospitalized with COVID-19.
Data was collected from some 450. 000 patients admitted to hospitals for COVID-19 in 65 countries over a three-year period between January 2020 and March 2023.
The findings are being presented at the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Global Congress, taking place in Barcelona, Spain from 27 to 30 April.
-ends-
STORY: Overuse of antibiotics during COVID-19 - WHO
TRT: 1:48”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 26 April 2024 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
- Exterior med shot: UN flag alley
- Wide shot: speaker at the podium during press conference
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Margaret Harris, spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO): “The advice was very clear right from the start. This was a virus. So it wasn't that that there was a guidance or recommendation that clinicians go in this direction. But perhaps because people were dealing with something completely new, they were looking for whatever they thought might be appropriate.”
- Med shot: Camera woman filming
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Margaret Harris, spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO): “The only time you would use antibiotics when you've got a viral infection is if you had a secondary, proven, bacterial infection that was sensitive to those antibiotics. So in other words, there were not being used appropriately. If you like the harm, the main harm, of course, is that if you are using antibiotics, you're unnecessarily you're increasing the likelihood of antimicrobial resistance to those particular antibiotics so that when you do need them for your bacterial infection, they are no longer so useful.”
- Med shot: journalist behind screen
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Margaret Harris, spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO): “If you give somebody a medication that they don't actually need, you are always exposing them to an unnecessary risk. Every time you treat a person for any illness with any medication, a doctor will balance will this medication do the job and prevent whatever the disease is and is that a more important outcome than any of the potential risks.”
- Wide shot: Journalists in the press room with camerawoman and technicians behind screen
- Med shot, journalist listening in press briefing
- Med shot, camerawoman filming
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The appointment on Thursday of Karla Quintana as head of the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic is a key development after nearly a year and a half of work by the UN Human Rights Office supporting the institution’s launch.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , UNICEF , UNRWA , WHO
The head of the UN migration agency stressed on Friday that Syria is in no position to take back millions of Syrians following the fall of the Assad regime, while there is an urgent need to “re-evaluate” sanctions impacting the war-ravaged country.
1
1
1
Edited News | IIIM , UNHCR
Syria: ‘Key priority’ is to preserve evidence of crimes – UN investigators
In Syria, new access to evidence of horrific human rights violations means that accountability may be closer than ever – if only proof can be preserved, a top UN investigator said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OSE , ICRC , UNHCR
Syria: UN and partners urge action to preserve evidence of prison atrocities, stabilize country
Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria five days ago, hundreds of people have rushed to Saydnaya prison, desperate to find loved ones. Disturbing images from the prison and other detention centers have since surfaced, exposing the “unimaginable barbarity Syrians have endured for years,” said Jenifer Fenton, spokesperson for the UN special envoy for Syria, on Friday.
1
1
2
Edited News | UNRWA
Gaza: “Sickening normalisation” of suffering, amid attacks on people and aid convoys
Ongoing military operations by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) in Gaza continue to devastate Palestinian children and families, with mounting casualties and a critical lack of humanitarian aid for the desperate population.
“Local media reporting here that last night, 30 people were killed in this area in strikes” said a senior emergency officer with the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Louise Wateridge, speaking to reporters in Geneva from central Gaza.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | OHCHR
Rights experts call for end to impunity for Israel’s violations of international law
Four independent human rights experts have jointly called for the international community to sanction Israel’s conduct of hostilities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as well as in the wider Middle East region - including in Syria, Lebanon and Iran. They also called for the restoration of trust in the international justice system through the abandonment of “extreme interpretations” and “double standards” in the application of the universal norms regulating the conduct of war.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNHCR
Syria: needs continue to grow amid highly uncertain situation, say aid teams
The historic power shift in Syria and the still volatile situation two days after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime have increased humanitarian needs in a country where nearly 17 million people, including millions of internally displaced, already depended on humanitarian aid before the recent events, UN aid teams said on Tuesday.
2
1
3
Edited News , Press Conferences | OSES
Barely 48 hours since opposition forces including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) swept into Damascus and forced out President Bashar al-Assad, the top UN negotiator tasked with helping Syrians’ create a peaceful and democratic future insisted that nothing could be taken for granted.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday called on States to do all in their power to end senseless conflicts and suffering.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
No evacuation order given before Kamal Adwan Hospital strike, says WHO
One of the last partially functional health centres in northern Gaza was reportedly hit again overnight into Friday by several strikes, leaving four health workers among the casualties and the dead, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO).
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | OCHA
More than 280,000 people have been uprooted in northwest Syria in a matter of days following the sudden and massive offensive into Government-controlled areas led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is sanctioned by the Security Council as a terrorist group.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk has called on the Georgian authorities to respect and protect the rights to freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly following several nights of protests that were marred by violence, and dispersed using disproportionate, and in some cases unnecessary, force by the police in the capital, Tbilisi.