Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the risk of antibiotic resistance around the world.
Aim: The study’s goal is to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on antibiotic use in Bulgaria.
Materials and Methods: A comparative study from reports of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) of the nation's antibiotic use and level of antibiotic resistance for the years 2018–2022. An online survey was conducted in September 2022 among citizens who had been diagnosed with COVID-19 through social media using Google Forms. A total number of 213 respondents participated in the survey.
Results: During the pandemic, antibiotics were used more frequently in hospital and outpatient settings compared to previous years. The greatest increase was observed in outpatient settings according to ECDC data. Almost half of the respondents (49.8%) were prescribed an antibiotic as a treatment for COVID-19 based on the attending physician’s judgment. A total of 60.4% of the patients were recommended antibiotic treatment without a preliminary laboratory test. Almost all patients (94.4%) who were prescribed an antibiotic purchased it. For 43.6% of them, therapy was prescribed over the phone. Antibiotic therapy was mostly recommended by general practitioners (80.4%).
Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the use of antibiotics in Bulgaria.
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