India, April 26 -- Antibiotics saw extensive overuse globally among hospitalized COVID-19 patients during the pandemic without improving clinical outcomes, while also potentially exacerbating the already serious and growing threat of antimicrobial resistance, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.

In an alert, WHO noted that although just eight per cent of hospitalized coronavirus patients also had bacterial infections which can be treated with antibiotics, a staggering three in four were given them on a just in case basis.

At no point during the global pandemic did the UN health agency recommend using antibiotics to treat the coronavirus COVID-19, insisted WHO spokesperson Dr Margaret Harris.

Viral, not bacterial

The ...