Rus MA, Ghițoaica B, Lazăr AL, Man MA, Briciu VT, Muntean MI, Leucuța DC, Lupșe MS. Changes in Epidemiology and Antibiotic Prescription of Influenza: Before and after the Emergence of COVID-19.
Pharmaceuticals (Basel) 2024;
17:181. [PMID:
38399395 PMCID:
PMC10893202 DOI:
10.3390/ph17020181]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2023] [Revised: 01/18/2024] [Accepted: 01/25/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND
The appearance of COVID-19 had a major impact on healthcare and the epidemiology of other diseases. Following the cessation of non-pharmacologic interventions destined to limit the spread of COVID-19, influenza reemerged. The aim of this study was to compare the pre-pandemic influenza seasons with the influenza seasons after the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to identify differences in terms of clinical characteristics, risk factors, complications, outcomes, and antiviral and antibiotic treatments.
METHODS
We conducted a retrospective cohort study from the Teaching Hospital of Infectious Diseases database in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. We analyzed four pre-pandemic seasons and the seasons after the onset of COVID-19. We included adult patients hospitalized with confirmed influenza between October 2016 and August 2023. Variables such as age, sex, duration of hospitalization, severity, clinical manifestations, comorbidities, and Charlson comorbidity index were assessed.
RESULTS
A total of 941 patients were included in the analysis. The percentage of severe influenza was similar in both groups, but mortality from influenza was significantly lower after 2022. Virtually all patients were prescribed antivirals; antibiotic prescriptions decreased in the post-COVID-19 influenza seasons.
CONCLUSION
The present study suggests that influenza seasons after 2022 had lower mortality and attenuated clinical presentation.
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