Scientists at Rutgers University in the United States have discovered that COVID-19 can contribute to secondary blood infections, which are an additional factor in the severe course of the disease and a high risk of death. A new cause of complications is reported in an article published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. Briefly about this explained in the press release at MedicalXpress.
The study involved 375 people diagnosed with severe COVID-19. A total of 128 cases of secondary bloodstream infections were diagnosed, of which 92 were bacterial.
According to experts, these patients had a high probability of an altered mental state, low blood oxygen saturation, septic shock and the need for hospitalization in the intensive care unit. Moreover, secondary infections were more frequent in those patients who required high levels of supplemental oxygen. Their mortality rate reached 50 percent.
The cause of secondary infections is still unknown, but researchers speculate that it may have something to do with frequent antimicrobial use, which in itself can lead to complications and drug-resistant infections.