Most patients with COVID-19 do not need antibacterial drugs: they are only required in exceptional cases and mainly in intensive care units, a new study published in The Lancet Microbe reported.

According to Medportal.ru, during the pandemic, the demand for antibiotics in pharmacies reached a record, but most of them took these drugs without medical indications.

A new study showed that at least 85% of patients received one or more antibiotics during hospital treatment, of which 37% received these drugs before hospitalization. The highest rates were noted among patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). Most often, doctors prescribed broad-spectrum antibiotics.

The most important finding was that bacterial infections in patients with COVID-19 were quite rare and were not specific to the coronavirus. As a rule, these were common nosocomial infections, and cases of secondary infection were detected mainly in ICU patients not earlier than 48 hours after hospitalization.