Decreasing proportion of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase among E. coli infections during the COVID-19 pandemic in France.

OBJECTIVES

We investigated the impact of the COVID-19 and national pandemic response on the epidemiology of Extended Spectrum Beta-Lactamase producing E. coli (ESBL-E.coli) in France.

METHODS

Individual microbiology records from clinical laboratories were analyzed between 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2020. The ESBL-E.coli rates from clinical samples of patients in primary care and nursing home residents were compared before and after the general lockdown in March 2020, according to demographic and geographical characteristics. Interrupted time series analyses were performed to detect measurable changes in the trend of ESBL-E.coli rates.

RESULTS

Records covering 793,954 E. coli isolates from 1022 clinical laboratories were analyzed. In primary care, 3.1% of E. coli isolates from clinical samples were producing ESBL before March 2020 and 2.9% since May 2020 (p < 0.001). The proportion of ESBL-E.coli decreased significantly among urine cultures, females, age categories 5-19, 40-64, > 65 year-old, and in the North, West, East and South-East regions. In nursing home, the ESBL-E.coli rate was 9.3% (monthly rate min-max: 6.5-10.5%) before March 2020 and 8.3% (7.2-9.1%) since May 2020 (p < 0.001). The reduction rate accelerated from -0.04%/month to -0.22%/month from May 2020 (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Investigation of factors that led to the decreased proportion of ESBL-E.coli during the COVID-19 pandemic is urgently needed.