An observational cohort study of bacterial co-infection and implications for empirical antibiotic therapy in patients presenting with COVID-19 to hospitals in North West London

Abstract

We found that bacterial co-infection was infrequent in hospitalized COVID-19 patients within 48 hours of admission. These results suggest that empirical antimicrobial treatment may not be necessary in all patients presenting with COVID-19 infection, although the decision could be guided by high inflammatory markers.