Antibiotic-resistant germs concern for COVID-19 patients

Patients positive for the coronavirus are falling ill to secondary illnesses, forcing doctors to increase the use of antibiotics for these bacterial infections. Meanwhile, antibiotic-resistant germs are a huge area of concern in the medical community.

Scientists we spoke to Friday explained COVID-19 patients are falling vulnerable to other diseases due to already being in ill health.

Karl Klose, Ph.D., is a professor of microbiology at University of Texas at San Antonio. He explained how antibiotic-resistant bugs can infect people already sick.

“Most of those really strong antibiotic-resistant bugs are opportunistic, and what that means is they’re looking for the opportunity to cause disease when the host is in some kind of weakened state,” Klose explained.

The host being the thousands of hospital patients fighting COVID-19. Now, it’s combining with antibiotic-resistant bacteria to make people sicker.

“You pick up these bugs in the hospital,” Klose said. “You end up getting a secondary infection because you’re not as able fight off disease anymore and then there’s no antibiotics that can treat you.”

That powerful one-two punch of virus and bacteria sometimes cannot be stopped because many antibiotics simply don’t work anymore. After years of doctors over-prescribing antibiotics and studies warning against overusing hand sanitizers, the drugs no longer work as well against superbugs or secondary infections in coronavirus patients.

Meanwhile, doctors are working on a super-tolerance to superbugs. Jim, Tour, Ph.D. is a synthetic organic chemist at Rice University. There, they are researching something called nano drills that pierce the outside shell of bacteria and deliver drugs right to the source.

“It’s very selective, and they die by exploding,” Tour said. “You punch holes in them and then the cells just bleb, boom.”

And there are other methods to kill bacteria, such as ultraviolet light. Scientists have some cautionary advice.

“Use them in a better way, so that we don’t induce antibiotic resistance to all bacteria that we come into contact with,” Klose said.

It’s also recommended not to take antibiotics unless absolutely necessary. So when you do really need them, they are effective.

Also, check your hand sanitizer. An ingredient called triclosan can increase superbugs. It’s banned in the United States but recently turned up in sanitizers and hand soap sold online.