{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,5]],"date-time":"2026-07-05T00:47:23Z","timestamp":1783212443972,"version":"3.54.6"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,13]],"date-time":"2022-02-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1644710400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Antibiotics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The global COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an upsurge in antimicrobial use. The increase in use is multifactorial, and is particularly related to the empirical treatment of SARS-CoV-2 and suspected coinfections with antimicrobials and the limited quality of diagnostics to differentiate viral and bacterial pneumonia. The lack of clear clinical guidelines across a wide range of settings, and the inadequacy of public health sectors in many countries, have contributed to this pattern. The increased use of antimicrobials has the potential to increase incidences of antimicrobial resistance, especially in low-resource countries such as Zimbabwe already grappling with multidrug-resistant micro-organism strains. By adopting the antimicrobial stewardship principles of the correct prescription and optimised use of antimicrobials, as well as diagnostic stewardship, revamping regulatory oversight of antimicrobial surveillance may help limit the occurrence of antimicrobial resistance during this pandemic.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/antibiotics11020244","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,13]],"date-time":"2022-02-13T20:32:30Z","timestamp":1644784350000},"page":"244","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":34,"title":["Inappropriate Antibiotic Use in Zimbabwe in the COVID-19 Era: A Perfect Recipe for Antimicrobial Resistance"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6306-8916","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Itai","family":"Chitungo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Chemical Pathology Unit, Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9929-5739","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tafadzwa","family":"Dzinamarira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Health Systems & Public Health, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa"},{"name":"ICAP at Columbia University, Harare, Zimbabwe"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0367-4265","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tinashe K.","family":"Nyazika","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Sciences, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool L3 5QA, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0107-8128","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Helena","family":"Herrera","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth PO1 2UP, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9077-4429","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Godfrey","family":"Musuka","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Health Systems & Public Health, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7531-730X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Grant","family":"Murewanhema","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Department of Primary Health Care Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"WHO (2022, January 19). 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