To assess the frequency and predictors of antibiotic use in children hospitalised with SARS-CoV-2 infection in Switzerland.
Approach:
Study Design: Nationwide prospective observational study of children aged 0–18 years hospitalised with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection or symptoms compatible with PIMS-TS from January 2022 to March 2023.
Data Collection: Data collected through the Swiss Paediatric Surveillance Unit (SPSU) included demographic data, symptoms, comorbidities, reasons for hospitalisation, and hospital care levels.
Analysis: Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to identify predictors of antibiotic use.
Key Findings:
Among 1944 hospitalised children, 586 (30%) received antibiotics. Of these, 71 (12%) had a clinically suspected bacterial infection without microbiological confirmation and 41 (7%) had microbiologically confirmed infection.
Predictors of antibiotic use included microbiologically confirmed bacterial infection, clinically suspected bacterial infection, haematologic/oncologic disease, PIMS-TS, fever, neonatal age, and treatment in tertiary centres.
After excluding high-risk patients, treatment in tertiary centres and PIMS-TS were no longer significant predictors.
Interpretation:
Limitations:
The study did not systematically apply microbiological testing across all hospitalised children.
Data on non-culture-based diagnostic methods were not captured.
by Juliane Wurm, Michael Buettcher, Eric Giannoni, Lisa Kottanattu, Guido F Laube, Anita Niederer-Loher, Nina Schöbi, Jessica Wey, Petra Zimmermann, Nicole Ritz
