Text box 1. Contributions to the literature
• An increase in antibiotic use has been observed during the late-pandemic period, but it has not yet been evaluated when this increase exactly took place, or how the seasonality in antibiotic use changed during the late-pandemic period.
• Analyses of quarterly data show a gradual increase in antibiotic use and a decrease in its seasonality, as of the second quarter of 2020, indicating inappropriate antibiotic use in the treatment of viral infections during the pre-pandemic period.
• Reporting quarterly data should be encouraged to improve the accuracy of future studies on antibiotic use.