During the Covid-19 pandemic, antibiotics such as macrolides and fluoroquinolones have experienced increased and irrational prescription.
The aim of this study is to determine the epidemiological profiles of Staphylococcus aureus and antibiotic resistance (January 1 to December 31, 2019) before and after (January 1, 2021 to May 31, 2022) the Covid-19 pandemic at the Avicenne Military Hospital in Marrakech.
Identification and susceptibility testing were performed on Phoenix® M50 to determine MIC, as well as measurement of inhibition diameters by the Mueller-Hinton (MH) agar disc diffusion method.
In the pre-pandemic study period, Staphylococcus aureus accounted for 8.01% of the isolates (n= 1073) and 5.05% of the isolates (1246) during the pandemic.
Staphylococcus aureus isolated (23.25%) in internal medicine followed by the intensive care unit (20.93%) before and after the start of the pandemic the intensive care unit (34.92%) followed by trauma (19.04%). The samples taken were Pus (44.18%) before the start of the pandemic compared to 47.61% after, followed by broncho alveolar lavage fluids (15.11%) compared to 20.63%, then blood cultures 12.79% compared to 11.11%.
Antibiotic resistance increased from 1.16% to 3.17% for Ciprofloxacin; from 2.7% to 4.76% for Levofloxacin, Erythromycinfrom 10.46% to 12.7%; Clindamycinfrom 3.48% to 11.11%.
Due to its high capacity to colonise and persist in the hospital environment, Staphylococcus aureusis important. The inappropriate use of antibiotics in Covid-19 could be the cause of increased resistance.