Background: There is currently a paucity of data describing bacterial coinfections, related antibiotic prescribing patterns, and the potential role of antimicrobial stewardship in the care of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. Methods: This prospective, observational study was conducted from March 10, 2020 to April 21, 2020 in admitted patients with confirmed COVID-19. Patients were included if ≥ 18 years old and admitted to the hospital for further treatment. Data was collected via chart review from the enterprise electronic health record database. Data collected include factors driving antibiotic choice, indication, and duration of therapy as well as microbiological data. Findings: Antibiotics were initiated on admission in 87/147 (59%) patients. Of these, 85/87 (98%) prescriptions were empiric. The most common indication for empiric antibiotics was concern for community-acquired pneumonia (76/85, 89%) with the most prescribed antibiotics being ceftriaxone and azithromycin. The median duration of antibiotic therapy was two days (interquartile range 1-5). No patients had a community-acquired bacterial respiratory coinfection, but 10/147 (7%) of patients were found to have concurrent bacterial infections from a non-respiratory source, and one patient was diagnosed with active pulmonary tuberculosis at the time of admission for COVID-19. Interpretation: Bacterial coinfection in patients with COVID-19 was infrequent. Antibiotics are likely unnecessary in patients with mild symptoms. There is little role for broad-spectrum antibiotics to empirically treat multidrug resistant organisms in patients with COVID-19, regardless of disease severity. Antimicrobial stewardship remains important in patients infected with SARS-CoV-2.

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Class-Morales, Cessna Aircraft Company Fernando Class-Morales earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez in 2002, and his M.S. in General Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2007. He worked as an intern for UTC-Pratt & Whitney, and is currently a Mechanical Systems Engineer at Cessna Aircraft Company in Wichita, KS. In his free time, Fernando enjoys playing paintball and working on obtaining his pilot license.

Background Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is a multidrug-resistant pathogen known to cause pneumonia with associated mortality rates up to 44%.1,2 Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) is the drug of choice based on available clinical evidence and excellent in-vitro susceptibility rates.3 High-dose TMP-SMX strategies recommend between 15-20mg/kg/day of the TMP component, however this has been associated with increased adverse drug events (ADE).4,5 The optimal dosing strategy remains unclear and it is unknown whether lower doses of TMP-SMX would achieve similar outcomes. Methods Patients with positive respiratory cultures for S. maltophilia who received at least 72 hours of TMP-SMX therapy for hospital-acquired or ventilator-associated pneumonia from January 2010 to March 2020 were included. Doses were categorized as standard-dose (SD) TMP-SMX (< 15 mg/kg/day TMP) or high-dose (HD) TMP-SMX (≥ 15 mg/kg/day TMP) after adjusting for renal function. The primary outcome was clinical success, defined as the composite of resolution of signs/symptoms of pneumonia, in-hospital survival, and no escalation of care. Secondary outcomes included hospital length of stay (LOS), 30-day mortality, 30-day readmission, and ADE. Results Of the 44 patients meeting inclusion criteria for the study, 27 received SD and 17 received HD TMP-SMX therapy. Patients received 12 mg/kg/day (IQR 11-14) and 16 mg/kg/day (IQR 16-19) in the SD and HD groups, respectively. There was no difference in clinical success between the SD and HD group (41% vs 59%, p=0.24). Secondary outcomes were similar between both groups except for 30-day hospital readmission; the SD group had significantly lower readmission rates (6% vs 69%, p < 0.01). Rates of adverse events were not statistically different between the two groups. Conclusion This study provides evidence that SD TMP-SMX may achieve similar clinical efficacy to HD TMP-SMX. We found no significant difference in clinical success, LOS, 30-day mortality, or adverse events between groups. Although HD TMP-SMX is the current recommendation for S. maltophilia infections, concerns about tolerability and adverse effects suggest that further clinical and pharmacodynamic research is needed. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures