{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,26]],"date-time":"2026-07-26T18:16:26Z","timestamp":1785089786072,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,29]],"date-time":"2021-08-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1630195200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Fleming Fund Country Grant to Bangladesh","award":["."],"award-info":[{"award-number":["."]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Antibiotics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The general population has been excessively using antibiotics during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the use of antibiotics for any reported illnesses in the preceding four weeks and knowledge of antibiotics among the general population in the community were assessed for possible interventions. A mobile phone survey among a general population across eight administrative divisions of Bangladesh was conducted during January\u2013March 2021. Reported illness episodes irrespective of COVID-19 in the preceding four weeks of the interview, use of antibiotics for the illnesses, and knowledge on antibiotics among the general population were recorded. Descriptive analyses were performed. We randomly interviewed 1854 participants, with a mean age of 28.5 years (range: 18\u201375 years); 60.6% were male. Among all participants, 86.3% (95% CI: 84.7\u201387.8) heard names of antibiotics, but only 12.1% reported unspecified harmful effects, and 3.5% reported antimicrobial resistance when antibiotics were taken without a physician\u2019s prescription. Among 257 (13.9%) participants, who consumed medicines for their recent illness episode, 32.7% (95% CI: 27.2\u201338.6) reported using antibiotics. Of those who could recall the names of antibiotics prescribed (n = 36), the most frequently used was azithromycin (22.2%) followed by cefixime (11.1%) and ciprofloxacin (5.6%). Our findings show an increased antibiotic use for illnesses reported in the preceding four weeks and an elevated knowledge at the community level during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with the pre-pandemic period.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/antibiotics10091052","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,29]],"date-time":"2021-08-29T21:45:16Z","timestamp":1630273516000},"page":"1052","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":21,"title":["Antibiotics Use and Its Knowledge in the Community: A Mobile Phone Survey during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Bangladesh"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5054-9243","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zubair","family":"Akhtar","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectious Diseases Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8871-3184","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Syeda","family":"Mah-E-Muneer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectious Diseases Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Md. Mahbubur","family":"Rashid","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectious Diseases Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8836-4922","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Md. Shakil","family":"Ahmed","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectious Diseases Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0734-5832","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Md. Ariful","family":"Islam","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectious Diseases Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3053-4241","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sukanta","family":"Chowdhury","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectious Diseases Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4754-7188","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zobaid","family":"Khan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Fleming Fund Country Grant to Bangladesh, DAI Global, LLC, House 3, First Floor, Road 23B, Gulshan 1, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5888-1558","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Md. Zakiul","family":"Hassan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectious Diseases Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh"},{"name":"Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 2JD, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8303-0947","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Khaleda","family":"Islam","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Fleming Fund Country Grant to Bangladesh, DAI Global, LLC, House 3, First Floor, Road 23B, Gulshan 1, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shahana","family":"Parveen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectious Diseases Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nitish","family":"Debnath","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Fleming Fund Country Grant to Bangladesh, DAI Global, LLC, House 3, First Floor, Road 23B, Gulshan 1, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mahmudur","family":"Rahman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectious Diseases Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh"},{"name":"Global Health Development, EMPHNET, 69 Mohakhali, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fahmida","family":"Chowdhury","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectious Diseases Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Vallin, M., Polyzoi, M., Marrone, G., Klintz, S.R., Wisell, K.T., and Lundborg, C.S. 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