Bacteriological Profile and Antimicrobial Susceptibility Pattern of Lower Respiratory Tract Infections in COVID Positive Patients

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2) has grown into the biggest medical emergency of the twentyfirst century. The proportion of COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory bacterial coinfection and the etiological agent is crucial to ensure the responsible use of antibiotics and to minimize negative consequences of overuse of antibiotics. This study was carried out to isolate aerobic pathogenic bacteria causing lower respiratory tract infections in COVID Positive Patients and to study their antimicrobial susceptibility pattern. A total of two hundred respiratory samples of COVID positive patients having lower respiratory tract infections were tested during a period of three years between April 2020 to March 2023. Rate of LRTI amongst COVID Patients was found to be 20.70% in our study. Streptococcus pneumoniae (22%)and Acinetobacter spp (19.5%)were the most common bacterial species isolated in COVID patients. This study demonstrated that bacterial co-infection were the common complications seen in hospitalized COVID-19 patients in our hospital setup.