Antibiotic consumption in Europe rebounds to pre-pandemic ranges

This 12 months’s European Antibiotic Consciousness Day (EAAD) focuses on the targets outlined within the 2023 Council Advice to step up efforts within the European Union (EU) in opposition to antimicrobial resistance in a One Well being strategy. These suggestions formulate the 2023 purpose to scale back complete antibiotic consumption (neighborhood and hospital sectors mixed) by 20%, utilizing consumption knowledge from 2019 as baseline.

Consumption of antibiotics in the neighborhood accounts for round 90% of the entire use. This implies, {that a} substantial and constant decline in the usage of antibiotics on this sector will probably be key on the best way in direction of reaching the set targets for 2030 which goal at stopping and decreasing antimicrobial resistance general.

Through the first 12 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, knowledge from the European Union (EU)/European Financial Space (EEA) confirmed an unprecedented 18.5% lower in neighborhood consumption of antibiotics in 2020 in contrast with the 2019 baseline. This drop has been associated to the usage of non-pharmaceutical interventions (e.g. bodily distancing or sporting of face masks) which decreased general unfold of pathogens, and to the truth that prescriptions of antibiotics had been affected by the disrupted entry to healthcare companies through the first 12 months of the pandemic.

Uncommon fluctuation between 2019 and 2022

Of their fast communication printed in Eurosurveillance on the event of EAAD and World AMR Consciousness Week, Ventura-Gabarró et al. current most up-to-date knowledge reported to the European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Consumption Community. They present that the noticed lower from 2020 didn’t final.

As a substitute, together with the gradual lifting of interventions throughout the EU/EEA, imply neighborhood consumption went up once more and elevated by 18.8% between 2021 and 2022 with no important distinction from the pre-pandemic stage in 2019. This rebound in consumption of antibacterials for systemic use in the neighborhood sector moved antibiotic consumption charges again in direction of the 2019 baseline worth.

The info introduced by Ventura-Gabarró et al. present completely different patterns of antibiotic consumption throughout the EU/EEA nations. In 13 of 27 nations, neighborhood antibiotic consumption was increased in 2022 than in 2019, with a median improve of 8.4% amongst these 13 nations (vary: 0.6–26.9).

From 2020 to 2021, the EU/EEA general, as in 15 particular person nations (Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden), noticed no or only a marginal (lower than +/−3%) change in antibiotic consumption in the neighborhood. Between 2021 and 2022 pre-pandemic ranges of 2019 had been reached once more with a median improve of 20.5%.

The authors spotlight that “though the resurgence of each viral and bacterial respiratory tract infections through the latter a part of our examine interval would possibly partly clarify this rebound in antibiotic consumption, the rise might additionally replicate a missed alternative to strengthen and reinforce prudent antibiotic use.” They conclude that “the COVID-19-pandemic had a considerable influence on neighborhood antibiotic consumption within the EU/EEA between 2020 and 2022. Nations exhibited completely different patterns of antibiotic consumption, underlining the significance of understanding every nation in its personal context. Additional examination into native prescribing and consumption behaviors for particular antibiotic teams can inform efficient stewardship interventions and produce the EU/EEA nearer to its antibiotic consumption targets for 2030.”