Identifying risk factors for bacterial infections and drivers of antibiotic use in patients without bacterial infections during the COVID-19 pandemic in a low-middle-income country.

Studies have reported that this overuse, often driven by diagnostic uncertainty, empirical prescribing practices, and misinformation which were considerably significant issues in LMICs where self-medication and over-the-counter antibiotic access further compounded the problem. 25 Factors associated with antibiotic prescribing in hospitalized COVID-19 patient have been reported from different studies and include advanced age, ICU stay, or need for mechanical ventilation, comorbid conditions such as diabetes mellitus and severe to critical COVID-19 at the time of admission to hospital. 26 – 28 These are similar to the observations from our study.

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