11/5/2015
Dramatic rise seen in antibiotic use : Nature News & Comment
NATURE | NEWS
Dramatic rise seen in antibiotic use New report provides the most comprehensive picture yet of antibiotic use and resistance worldwide. Sara Reardon 17 September 2015
Antibiotic use is growing steadily worldwide, driven mainly by rising demand in low and middleincome countries, according to a report released on 17 September. The research presents the clearest picture yet of how and where the drugs are used, and the prevalence of different types of antibiotic resistance. The Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy (CDDEP), a nonprofit group headquartered in Washington DC, based the analysis on data from scientific literature and national and regional surveillance systems. The organization used this to calculate and map the rate of antibiotic resistance for 12 types of bacteria in 39 countries, and trends in antibiotic use in 69 countries over the past 10 years or longer. Global antibiotic consumption grew by 30% between 2000 and 2010. This growth is driven mostly by countries such as South Africa and India, where antibiotics are widely available over the counter and sanitation in some areas is poor. In India, for instance, the number of Klebsiella pneumoniae infections that are resistant to a class of powerful antibiotics called carbapenems doubled from 29% in http://www.nature.com/news/dramatic-rise-seen-in-antibiotic-use-1.18383
Related stories 1/4
11/5/2015
Dramatic rise seen in antibiotic use : Nature News & Comment
2008 to 57% in 2014. By contrast, fewer than 10% of K. pneumoniae infections in
US vows to combat
the United States and Europe are carbapenem resistant.
antibiotic resistance Antibiotic resistance
The report also found that the use of antibiotics in livestock is growing worldwide.
sweeping developing
The problem is particularly acute in China, which used about 15,000 tons of
world
antibiotics for this purpose in 2010; the country is projected to double its consumption by 2030.
WHO warns against 'postantibiotic' era
Strategies to strive for
More related stories
Most highincome countries, by contrast, have begun instituting regulations on antibiotic use, and these are starting to pay off. According to the report, the number of methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections, for example, has dropped precipitously in many areas, such as the United Kingdom, over the past eight years. “I think it’s a very thorough and thoughtprovoking report,” says Daniel Sahm, chief scientific officer at International Health Management Associates in Schaumburg, Illinois. Because it is so difficult to gather data from developing countries, he says, the information used in the new analysis might contain holes: an argument for moreaggressive surveillance. The report lists six steps for preventing antibiotic resistance in countries that do not yet have good policies. Some of those measures, such as improving sanitation, are obvious, whereas policies that restrict antibiotic use in agriculture and hospitals might be more difficult or controversial to implement. But Timothy Walsh, a medical microbiologist at Cardiff University, UK, says that, although the suggestions offered are worthwhile, international cooperation in setting up a global surveillance network and regulations is necessary to limit the overuse of antibiotics. “We can pour as much money and sentiment and goodwill into the front end of the problem as we want,” he says. “But unless we start to have international action and accountability, we’re going to just keep on making the same mistakes over and over again.” Nature doi:10.1038/nature.2015.18383 Tweet
306
Follow @NatureNews
Follow @Sara_Reardon
Related stories and links From nature.com US vows to combat antibiotic resistance 23 September 2014 Antibiotic resistance sweeping developing world 06 May 2014 WHO warns against 'postantibiotic' era http://www.nature.com/news/dramatic-rise-seen-in-antibiotic-use-1.18383
2/4
11/5/2015
Dramatic rise seen in antibiotic use : Nature News & Comment
30 April 2014 Antibiotic resistance: The last resort 24 July 2013 From elsewhere ResistanceMap The State of the World's Antibiotics, 2015 report
For the best commenting experience, please login or register as a user and agree to our Community Guidelines. You will be redirected back to this page where you will see comments updating in realtime and have the ability to recommend comments to other users.
3 comments
Subscribe to comments
Chris Szabo • 20150918 11:52 AM
There is a factual error in this article. It states: "This growth is driven mostly by countries such as South Africa and India, where antibiotics are widely available over the counter. " This is not true about South Africa. One must have a valid prescription to get antibiotics from a pharmacy. Scripts for antibiotics cannot be older than six months. Inaccurate statements like this mislead readers. Please check your facts. Thanks.
KONG DERICK NJIKEH • 20150917 12:06 PM
There is all reasons for antibiotic resistance and use to increase in the low and middle income countries. This is because the people don't respect the prescribed dosage and length of treatment, for after taking the treatment for a few days with the amelioration of symptoms, they abandon due to the lack of means without the complete treatment of the etiology. A few days or weeks later with the reappearance of symptoms they go in for another incomplete treatment and so on which leads to resistance and further demand. So to solve this problem, led antibiotics be subsidize and the people sensitize on the use of antibiotics.
Silvio Pitlik • 20150917 04:26 AM
The main problem resulting from overuse of antibiotics is the devastation of our microbiota, the trillions of microbes which keep us metabolically and immunologically healthy.
See other News & Comment articles from Nature Nature
ISSN 00280836
EISSN 14764687
© 2015 Nature Publishing Group, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.nature.com/news/dramatic-rise-seen-in-antibiotic-use-1.18383
3/4
11/5/2015
Dramatic rise seen in antibiotic use : Nature News & Comment
partner of AGORA, HINARI, OARE, INASP, CrossRef and COUNTER
http://www.nature.com/news/dramatic-rise-seen-in-antibiotic-use-1.18383
4/4