{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,10]],"date-time":"2026-04-10T06:54:54Z","timestamp":1775804094402,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":54,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,10]],"date-time":"2026-04-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1775779200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study investigated the distribution characteristics and antimicrobial resistance patterns of pathogens isolated from patients with oral and maxillofacial infections during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This retrospective study analyzed microbial cultures of specimens obtained from patients with odontogenic and non-odontogenic oral and maxillofacial infections during the pandemic period (January 2020\u2013December 2022) and the post-pandemic period (January 2023\u2013December 2024). Pathogen identification was performed using matrix-assisted laser desorption\/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was conducted using the VITEK 2 Compact automated analyzer, the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method, and the Etest. Data were analyzed using WHONET (version 5.6) and R software (version 4.2.1). This study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University (Approval No.: WCHSIRB-D-2025-280).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      While the microbial culture submission rate remained stable, the culture positivity rate decreased from 20.19 during the pandemic to 18.71% in the post-pandemic period. In odontogenic infections, anaerobic bacteria predominated, with\n                      <jats:italic>Viridans streptococci, P. intermedia<\/jats:italic>\n                      , and\n                      <jats:italic>P. acnes<\/jats:italic>\n                      being the most frequently isolated species. Notably, clindamycin resistance among\n                      <jats:italic>Viridans streptococci<\/jats:italic>\n                      significantly decreased from 93.81 to 82.35%. In contrast, non-odontogenic infections were predominantly caused by aerobic bacteria, most frequently involving\n                      <jats:italic>K. pneumoniae, A. baumannii, S. aureus<\/jats:italic>\n                      , and\n                      <jats:italic>P. aeruginosa<\/jats:italic>\n                      . Resistance to ceftriaxone in\n                      <jats:italic>K. pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n                      decreased significantly from 14.91 to 9%, whereas resistance to levofloxacin in\n                      <jats:italic>P. aeruginosa<\/jats:italic>\n                      markedly increased from 2.88 to 11.49%. In addition, the proportion of carbapenem-resistant\n                      <jats:italic>A. baumannii<\/jats:italic>\n                      (CR-AB) rose from 9.52 to 17.11%.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Following the COVID-19 pandemic, shifts in both the pathogen spectrum and antimicrobial resistance patterns were observed in odontogenic and non-odontogenic infections. These findings reflect an evolving microbial landscape and highlight the need for tailored, etiology-specific antimicrobial strategies in the management of oral and maxillofacial infections. However, as these changes may be attributable to multiple confounding factors, further studies are warranted to establish causality.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1805185","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,10]],"date-time":"2026-04-10T05:59:38Z","timestamp":1775800778000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Distribution and antimicrobial resistance of pathogens in oral and maxillofacial infections during and Post-COVID-19 pandemic"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Dandan","family":"Li","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, National Center for Stomatology, National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, Department of Pharmacy, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University","place":["Chengdu, Sichuan, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Zhujun","family":"Yu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, National Center for Stomatology, National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, Department of Pharmacy, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University","place":["Chengdu, Sichuan, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Cheng","family":"Nie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, National Center for Stomatology, National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, Department of Pharmacy, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University","place":["Chengdu, Sichuan, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Huamin","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, National Center for Stomatology, National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, Department of Pharmacy, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University","place":["Chengdu, Sichuan, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jingjing","family":"Jiang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, National Center for Stomatology, National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, Department of Pharmacy, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University","place":["Chengdu, Sichuan, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jianli","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, National Center for Stomatology, National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, Department of Pharmacy, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University","place":["Chengdu, Sichuan, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1979","DOI":"10.1111\/odi.13894","article-title":"Predictors of longer hospitalization of maxillofacial infections-a 17-year retrospective study","volume":"28","author":"Rasteniene","year":"2022","journal-title":"Oral Dis."},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"603","DOI":"10.1007\/s40368-023-00824-z","article-title":"Maxillofacial infections in lithuanian hospitalised children and adolescents: a 17-years retrospective study","volume":"24","author":"Rasteniene","year":"2023","journal-title":"Eur Arch Paediatr Dent."},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"235","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cden.2016.11.004","article-title":"Odontogenic Infections","volume":"61","author":"Ogle","year":"2017","journal-title":"Dent Clin North Am."},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"363","DOI":"10.1038\/s41415-020-2114-5","article-title":"Management of odontogenic infections and sepsis: an update","volume":"229","author":"Jevon","year":"2020","journal-title":"Br Dent J."},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"143","DOI":"10.5114\/ms.2024.140977","article-title":"Comparison of clinical and bacterial profile of odontogenic and non-odontogenic maxillofacial infections","volume":"40","author":"Kami\u0144ski","year":"2024","journal-title":"Med. 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