Objective: The aim of this study is to identify the secondary bacterial infection agents in hospitalized patients due to COVID-19 disease, determine their antibacterial resistance patterns, and thus prevention of unnecessary antibiotic use by providing foresight for the empirical treatment given to patients with secondary infection.

Methods: In our study, 315 isolates from lower respiratory tract samples of patients hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU) due to COVID-19 in Niğde Training and Research Hospital between March 2020 and February 2021 were examined. Demographic and laboratory data were analyzed retrospectively from the hospital automation system. Identification of bacterial isolates and antibiotic susceptibility were performed with Vitek 2 Compact device and evaluated according to EUCAST criteria.

Results: 5753 patients hospitalized in our hospital due to COVID-19 were examined, and secondary bacterial infection was detected in 315 (5.5%) of them in the ICU. During the pandemic, Acinetobacter baumannii (47.8%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (13.4%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (12.0%) growth were observed frequently among Gram-negative bacteria. Among the Gram-positive bacteria, growth was noted for Staphylococcus aureus (4.5%) and Enterococcus spp. (2.1%).

Conclusion: Multidrug-resistant bacteria cause increased morbidity and mortality. Therefore, the need for antibiotic therapy should be evaluated promptly and discontinued when inappropriate. With proper control of nosocomial infections, it is important to prevent the development of secondary bacterial infections in COVID-19 patients and to limit the spread of these resistant strains.