Evaluation of Blood Cultures from SARS-CoV-2-Positive and Negative Adult Patients

Bacteremia and fungemia are significant causes of morbidity and mortality that frequently occur as co-infections with viral respiratory infections, including SARS-CoV-2. The aim of this study was to evaluate the microorganisms that were isolated from the blood cultures of SARS-CoV-2-positive and negative patients and investigate their antimicrobial resistance patterns. A retrospective analysis was performed of 22,944 blood cultures sent to the laboratory between November 2020 and December 2021. Blood culture analyses were performed using the BD Bactec FX automated system. Identification was carried out using conventional methods, namely, VITEK-2 and MALDI-TOF MS. Antibacterial/antifungal susceptibility tests were performed according to EUCAST/CLSI recommendations. SARS-CoV-2 tests were performed with RT-PCR. Culture positivity was detected in 1630 samples from 652 patients. Of these 652 patients, 633 were tested for SARS-CoV-2; 118 (18.6%) were positive and 515 (81.3%) were negative. The bacteria and fungi that were isolated at the highest rate in SARS-CoV-2-positive patients were methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci (MR-CoNS) (21.5%), (12.4%), (12.4%), (1.65%), and complex (1.65%), while in the negative patients, the highest rates were for (21.3%), MR-CoNS (13.5%), (12.05%), (2.1%), (1.1%), and (0.9%). No statistically significant difference was determined between COVID-19-positive and negative patients in terms of detection, such as with the spp., spp., and methicillin-resistant isolated from the blood cultures ( > 0.05). The most common isolate was MR-CoNS in SARS-CoV-2-positive patients ( = 0.028). was more frequent ( = 0.004) and carbapenem-resistant was isolated at a higher rate (60% vs. 43%) in SARS-CoV-2-positive patients compared to SARS-CoV-2-negative patients ( > 0.05). These findings highlight the fact that isolation procedures should not be disregarded and the distribution of bacterial/fungal agents of bloodstream infections and their antibiotic resistance should be followed up during a pandemic, such as in the case of COVID-19.