Overuse of antibiotics in pets must be tackled to reduce resistance, conference hears

• Published in: BMJ (Online) Vol. 345; no. oct04 2; p. e6719
• Main Author: Bhumbra, Rej S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England British Medical Journal Publishing Group 04-10-2012; BMJ Publishing Group LTD
• Subjects: Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents - economics; Anti-Bacterial Agents - therapeutic use; Antibiotics; Congresses as Topic; Drug Prescriptions - statistics & numerical data; Drug Resistance, Microbial; Europe; Humans; Pets; Societies, Medical; Surgeons; United Kingdom; Veterinary medicine; Veterinary Medicine - standards; United Kingdom > UK; Europe
• ISSN: 0959-8138; 1756-1833; 1756-1833
• DOI: 10.1136/bmj.e6719

Prescribing of antibiotics across Europe is returning to the high levels of the 1990s, Peter Hawkey, from the Public Health Laboratory in the University of Birmingham, told the conference in London, which was organised jointly by the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. Peter Davey, lead for quality improvement at the University of Dundee, quoted a BMJ paper by Cals and colleagues in 2009 showing that reduced antibiotic use did not impair recovery in patients. 1 Other speakers focused on the problem of a lack of research into antibiotics and the lack of incentives for companies to look at this area, hence closing discovery lines. Effect of point of care testing for C reactive protein and training in communication skills on antibiotic use in lower respiratory tract infections: cluster randomised trial.