Infection and Drug Resistance, analyzed data from 17,534 Covid patients admitted to one of 10 hospitals in the council’s surveillance network from June 1 to Aug.
30, 2020. Among these, 640 patients, or 3.6%, had a secondary infection, though the incidence was as high as 28% in some hospitals.Fatality rateAlmost 60% of patients who developed secondary infections died, compared with about 11% of those who didn’t, according to the study.
The majority of fatal cases had diabetes, hypertension or another underlying health condition known to worsen the severity of Covid-19.The data were collected when Covid cases were on the rise, and “the findings suggest that a lot of over-prescribing of antimicrobials happened during that time," the authors.