{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T02:22:13Z","timestamp":1760149333688,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,25]],"date-time":"2023-07-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1690243200000},"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>Background: The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the novel coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has been associated with an increased risk of secondary bacterial infections. Numerous studies have reported a surge in antibiotic usage during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the frequency and patterns of antibiotic prescriptions at Primary Health Care Centers (PHCC) in Qatar, comparing the period before and during the pandemic. Methods: This population-based, cross-sectional study analyzed all antibiotic prescriptions issued in two-month intervals before COVID-19 (November and December 2019) and during the initial wave (June and July 2020) of COVID-19. The study included 27 PHCCs in Qatar. Results: Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, the PHCCs dispensed a total of 74,909 antibiotic prescriptions in November and December. During the first wave of COVID-19, the number decreased to 29,273 prescriptions in June and July 2020. Antibiotics were most commonly prescribed for adults and least commonly for the elderly, both before and during the COVID-19 period. In the pre-COVID-19 period, Betalactams and macrolides accounted for the majority (73%) of all antibiotic prescriptions across all age groups. However, during the COVID-19 period, Betalactams and other antibiotics such as Nitrofurantoin and Metronidazole (73%) were the most frequently prescribed. Conclusion: The rate of antibiotic prescriptions during the first wave of COVID-19 was lower compared to the two months preceding the pandemic at the PHCC in Qatar.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/antibiotics12081228","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,26]],"date-time":"2023-07-26T00:45:02Z","timestamp":1690332302000},"page":"1228","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Antibiotics Prescriptions Pattern among Patients Visiting Primary Health Care Centers (PHCC) before and during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Population-Based Study from Qatar"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2158-9788","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Salma","family":"Al-Nuaimi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, QU Health, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sara","family":"Alkuwari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, QU Health, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2909-7278","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Abdullah M.","family":"Al-Jubouri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, QU Health, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5049-6962","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Salma","family":"Hegazi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, QU Health, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0515-807X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lolwa","family":"Jolo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, QU Health, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Hafsa","family":"Khalid","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, QU Health, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Saoud","family":"Bossa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, QU Health, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Eisa","family":"Al-Shirawi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, QU Health, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Merin","family":"Alex","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Health Protection, PHCC, Doha 26555, Qatar"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5362-3373","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Khalid H.","family":"Elawad","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Health Protection, PHCC, Doha 26555, Qatar"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3081-2929","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Habib Hasan","family":"Farooqui","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Population Medicine, College of Medicine, QU Health, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7487-8770","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Susu M.","family":"Zughaier","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, QU Health, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1020","DOI":"10.3389\/fmicb.2020.01020","article-title":"The Novel Coronavirus COVID-19 Outbreak: Global Implications for Antimicrobial Resistance","volume":"11","author":"Murray","year":"2020","journal-title":"Front. 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