Community use of antibiotics during the COVID-19 lockdown.

To the Editor, Within the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the occurrence of respiratory tract infection caused by other agents is of interest. Given the impact on the circulation of infections, the COVID-19 lockdown could have changed the panorama of community-acquired infections, with subsequent effects also on the total consumption of antibiotics. Instead, the use of azithromycin increased significantly before the Italian Medicines Agency had recommended, on 9 April 2020, not to use this antibiotic, alone or in combination with other drugs, for the treatment of COVID-19 except in the case of bacterial infections [[6]]. [Extracted from the article]