Survey of healthcare worker perceptions of changes in infection control and antimicrobial stewardship practices in India and South Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: To identify perceptions and awareness of changes in infection prevention and control (IPC) and antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) practices among healthcare workers (HCWs) during the COVID-19 pandemic in India and South Africa (SA).

Method: A self-administered online survey which included participant demographics, knowledge and sources of COVID-19 infection, perceived risks and barriers, and self-efficacy. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics.

Results: The study received 321 responses (response rate: 89.2%); 131/321 (40.8%) from India and 190/321 (59.2%) from SA; male to female response rate was 3:2, with majority of respondents aged 40-49 (89/321, 27.7%) and 30-39 (87/321, 27.1%) years. Doctors comprised 47.9% (57/119) of respondents in India and 74.6% (135/181) in SA. Majority of respondents in India (93/119, 78.2%) and SA (132/181, 72.9%) were from the private and public sectors, respectively, with more respondents in SA (123/174, 70.7%) than in India (38/104, 36.5%) involved in antimicrobial prescribing.Respondents reported increased IPC practices since the pandemic and noted a need for more training on case management, antibiotic and personal protective equipment (PPE) use. While they noted increased antibiotic prescribing since the pandemic, they did not generally associate their practice with such an increase. A willingness to be vaccinated, when vaccination becomes available, was expressed by 203/258 (78.7%) respondents.

Conclusions: HCWs reported improved IPC practices and changes in antibiotic prescribing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Targeted education on correct use of PPE was an identified gap. Although HCWs expressed concerns about antimicrobial resistance, their self-perceived antibiotic prescribing practices seemed unchanged. Additional studies in other settings could explore how our findings fit other contexts.