{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,23]],"date-time":"2026-03-23T22:44:05Z","timestamp":1774305845178,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":71,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,11,9]],"date-time":"2023-11-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1699488000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Deputyship for Research and Innovation, Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia","award":["IFP22UQU4290073DSR133"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["IFP22UQU4290073DSR133"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Antibiotics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The inappropriate prescribing of antimicrobials increases antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which poses an appreciable threat to public health, increasing morbidity and mortality. Inappropriate antimicrobial prescribing includes their prescribing in patients hospitalized with COVID-19, despite limited evidence of bacterial infections or coinfections. Knowledge of current antimicrobial utilization in Saudi Arabia is currently limited. Consequently, the objective of this study was to document current antimicrobial prescribing patterns among Saudi hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study included patients with or without COVID-19 who were admitted to five hospitals in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Data were gathered using the Global PPS methodology and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Out of 897 hospitalized patients, 518 were treated with antibiotics (57.7%), with an average of 1.9 antibiotics per patient. There were 174 culture reports collected, representing 36.5% of all cases. The most common indication for antibiotics use was community-acquired infections, accounting for 61.4% of all cases. \u2018Watch\u2019 antibiotics were the most commonly prescribed antibiotics, with the cephalosporins and carbapenems representing 38.7% of all antibiotics prescribed, followed by the penicillins (23.2%). Notably, Piperacillin\/Tazobactam and Azithromycin were prescribed at relatively higher rates for COVID-19 patients. These findings highlight the need for continuous efforts to optimize the rational use of antibiotics through instigating appropriate antimicrobial stewardship programs in hospitals and, as a result, reduce AMR in the country.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/antibiotics12111609","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,11,9]],"date-time":"2023-11-09T08:08:58Z","timestamp":1699517338000},"page":"1609","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Point Prevalence Survey of Antimicrobial Use and Resistance during the COVID-19 Era among Hospitals in Saudi Arabia and the Implications"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2455-5054","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Abdul","family":"Haseeb","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah 24382, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2513-5043","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Safa S. Almarzoky","family":"Abuhussain","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah 24382, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7975-933X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Saleh","family":"Alghamdi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Baha University, Al-Baha 57911, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Shahad M.","family":"Bahshwan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah 24382, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7140-741X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ahmad J.","family":"Mahrous","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah 24382, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3095-5014","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yazeed A.","family":"Alzahrani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pharmacy Department, Armed Forces Hospitals Southern Region, Khamis Mushayte 62411, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Albaraa Faraj","family":"Alzahrani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah 24382, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Abdullmoin","family":"AlQarni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectious Diseases Department, Alnoor Specialist Hospital, Makkah 24382, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Manal","family":"AlGethamy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infection Prevention and Control Program, Alnoor Specialist Hospital, Makkah 24382, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Asem Saleh","family":"Naji","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectious Diseases Department, Alnoor Specialist Hospital, Makkah 24382, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6508-7747","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Asim Abdulaziz Omar","family":"Khogeer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Plan and Research Department, Ministry of Health (MOH), Makkah 12211, Saudi Arabia"},{"name":"Medical Genetics Unit, Maternity & Children Hospital, Makkah Healthcare Cluster, Ministry of Health, Makkah 24382, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0245-5976","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Muhammad Shahid","family":"Iqbal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Alkharj 16242, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6539-6972","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Brian","family":"Godman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health Pharmacy and Management, School of Pharmacy, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Pretoria 0208, South Africa"},{"name":"Department of Pharmacoepidemiology, Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Science (SIPBS), University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0RE, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3202-6347","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zikria","family":"Saleem","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,11,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1614","DOI":"10.1093\/jac\/dkab050","article-title":"Hospital antibiotic prescribing patterns in adult patients according to the WHO Access, Watch and Reserve classification (AWaRe): Results from a worldwide point prevalence survey in 69 countries","volume":"76","author":"Pauwels","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. 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