Table 4. Number of antibiotic prescriptions per season per group and observed outcome.
| Diagnosis | Influenza | SARS-CoV-2 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year or season | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | First wave | Second wave | |
| Number of patients | 4579 | 8016 | 4354 | 1422 | 1702 | 6904 | |
| Number of contacts with GP practices | 4858 | 9298 | 4922 | 1542 | 2165 | 8867 | |
| Antibiotic prescriptions per total contacts % (n) | 25.1 (1221) | 27.9 (2595) | 29.6 (1458) | 20.7 (319) | 9.6 (209) | 2.7 (238) | |
| Penicillins % (n) | 13.9 (676) | 15.7 (1458) | 17.7 (869) | 12.6 (194) | 6.7 (145) | 2.0 (177) | |
| Macrolides % (n) | 3.0 (147) | 3.9 (364) | 3.7 (184) | 2.5 (38) | 1.0 (21) | 0.3 (27) | |
| Tetracyclines % (n) | 8.1 (393) | 8.1 (755) | 8.1 (397) | 5.5 (85) | 1.7 (37) | 0.3 (30) | |
| Other % (n) | 0.1 (5) | 0.2 (18) | 0.1 (8) | 0.1 (2) | 0.3 (6) | 0.1 (4) | |
| Observed outcome | |||||||
| Hospital admissions % (n) | – | – | – | – | 7.5 (128) | 3.3 (227) | |
| Intensive care admissions % (n) | – | – | – | – | 1.5 (25) | 0.6 (41) | |
| Mortality % (n) | – | – | – | – | 2.1 (36) | 1.0 (71) | |
| Difference in proportion of antibiotic prescriptions between influenza seasons and SARS-CoV-2 waves | |||||||
| First wave % (95% CI) | 15.5 (13.8 to 17.2) | 18.3 (16.8 to 19.8) | 20.0 (18.2 to 21.8) | 11.1 (8.7 to 13.5) | – | – | |
| Second wave % (95% CI) | 22.4 (21.1 to 23.7) | 25.2 (24.2 to 26.2) | 26.9 (25.6 to 28.2) | 18.0 (15.9 to 20.1) | – | – | |
SARS-CoV-2 = severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.