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The following is a summary of “Impact of antibiotic therapy in patients with respiratory viral infections: a retrospective cohort study,” published in the July 2024 issue of Infectious Disease by Hovind et al.

Researchers conducted a retrospective study on antibiotics use for 30 days and length of hospital stay in patients with respiratory infections. 

They analyzed the patients hospitalized between 2012 and 2021 with positive PCR for influenza virus (H3N2, H1N1, influenza B), respiratory syncytial virus, human metapneumovirus, or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The logistic regression models named the Kaplan–Meier estimator and Poisson’s regression were used to assess the impact of antibiotic therapy.

The results showed 67.7% of patients received antibiotics; in adjusted analyses, there was no significant impact of antibiotics that was initiated in the ED (adjusted OR 1.23, 95% CI 0.77–1.96) and days of antibiotic therapy (adjusted OR per day of therapy 0.98, 95% CI 0.95–1.00) on mortality, whereas antibiotics initiated later (adjusted OR 2.25, 95% CI 1.26–4.02) had increased rate of mortality. 

They concluded no linkage between in-hospital antibiotic therapy and outcomes, suggesting overuse of antibiotics in respiratory infections with proven respiratory viruses. 

Source: tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23744235.2024.2375592#abstract