Reduction of 18.3% in consumption antibiotics by humans recorded in Europe in 2020 compared to 2019, according to a study by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). The decline – the largest on an annual basis in two decades – has been observed in almost all European countries studied (on 26 of the 27) and its cause is mainly its pandemic coronavirus.
More specifically, from 2016 to 2019 there was an average annual decrease of 1.8% in the use of antibiotics, while between 2019-2018 the reduction was about tenfold (18.3%). The reduction concerned various types of antibiotics, such as penicillins, cephalosporins, macrolides etc.
However, according to ECDC researchers who published in the Eurosurveillance, antimicrobial resistance levels remain high for several important combinations of bacteria. especially in the countries of Southern and Eastern Europe. They also stressed that it remains to be seen whether the decline in antibiotic consumption will continue in 2021, as well as whether this will have an impact on antimicrobial resistance in Europe.
Antibiotics: “A silent pandemic happening here and now”
According to the European Commissioner Stella Kyriakidou“Antimicrobial resistance remains a serious challenge worldwide. It is a silent pandemic that is happening here and now. “Although antibiotic use has generally declined in the EU / EEA, we need to increase our public health response.”
The director of the ECDC Andrea Amon “Despite our focus on the ongoing pandemic, we need to persevere in our efforts to further reduce the unnecessary use of antibiotics,” he said.
Why antibiotic use has declined – The cost to lives of antimicrobial resistance
The decline in antibiotic use last year was mainly due to reduced visits to doctors in the midst of a pandemic, resulting in fewer prescription drugs for mild infections that do not require hospitalization, as transmitted by APE-MPE. This is especially true in those countries where antibiotics were abused in the slightest before the pandemic. The decrease in antibiotics also came from the fact that due to the pandemic and the protection measures of the population (masks, distances, lockdown, etc.), other respiratory infections were drastically reduced.
According to the ECDC, resistance to last-line defense antibiotics, such as vancomycin and the carbapenems, remains a serious issue. When these antibiotics become resistant to germs, they no longer exist very limited treatment options, often with a fatal outcome for patients.
The ECDC estimates that they happen every year in Europe more than 670,000 infections due to bacterial resistance to antibiotics and about 33,000 people die because of them. The cost to lives of antimicrobial resistance is comparable to that from the flu, tuberculosis and AIDS together.
This year, between November 17 and 24, World Antimicrobial Awareness Week will take place, an initiative of the World Health Organization. In Europe, the corresponding European Antibiotic Awareness Day takes place on 18 November.
Here you will see the relevant scientific publication.
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