Resistance Transition of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in SARS-CoV-2-Uninfected Hospitalized Patients in the Pandemic

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) specified preventive and control measures on the distribution and resistance transition of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) in uninfected hospitalized patients during the pandemic. METHODS: This retrospective study retrieved data from 316 P. aeruginosa isolates in the year pre-COVID-19 (n=131) pandemic and the year under COVID-19 specified preventive and control (post-pandemic year, n=185), compared the general characteristics, laboratory results, and antimicrobial susceptibility tests of P. aeruginosa between the two groups. RESULTS: Compared with the pre-pandemic year, the isolation rate of P. aeruginosa (14.35% vs 22.31%, P<0.001) increased, while the rate of drug resistant P. aeruginosa decreased significantly (29.77% vs 19.45%, P<0.001) in the post-pandemic year; Prescription of β-Lactams (30.5% vs 50.0%, P<0.01) also increased significantly. The resistance rates of P. aeruginosa isolates to ceftazidime (P<0.01), ciprofloxacin (P<0.01), and gentamicin (P<0.001) increased, whereas the resistance rates to piperacillin/tazobactam (P<0.01) and imipenem (P<0.05) decreased significantly. CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 specified preventive and control measures have influenced the distribution and resistance transition of P. aeruginosa, further verifications are needed in future research.