INTRODUCTION Respiratory tract infections (RTIs) are the most common reason for primary care (PC) consultations and for antibiotic prescribing and use. The majority of RTIs have a viral aetiology however, and antibiotic consumption is ineffective and unnecessary. Inappropriate antibiotic use contributes greatly to antibiotic resistance (ABR) leading to complications, increased adverse events, r...

BACKGROUND Antibiotic overuse and resistance have become a major threat in the last 2 decades. Many programs tried to optimize antibiotic consumption in the inpatient setting, but the outpatient environment that represents the bulk of antibiotic use has been challenging. Following a significant rise of Clostridium difficile infections, all the health care stakeholders in the province of Quebec,...

Antibiotic use in animal farming is one of the main drivers of antibiotic resistance both in animals and in humans. In this paper we propose that one feasible and fair way to address this problem is to tax animal products obtained with the use of antibiotics. We argue that such tax is supported both by (a) deontological arguments, which are based on the duty individuals have to compensate socie...

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has become a global problem for health care services, with fewer antimicrobials entering the market and some pathogenic organisms becoming resistant to commonly used antimicrobials. Antimicrobial stewardship (AS), including evidence-based standard setting, education and communication, and audits of practice, has become a key method of preventing the rise in the ri...

Antibiotic resistance is a global public health problem that requires our attention. Indiscriminate antibiotic use is a major contributor in the introduction of selective pressures in our natural environments that have significantly contributed in the rapid emergence of antibiotic-resistant microbial strains. The use of probiotics in lieu of antibiotic therapy to address certain health conditio...

BACKGROUND Patients' expectations for antibiotics are known to influence prescribing, but little is known about patients' understanding of, and attitudes to, antibiotic resistance and whether these could modify treatment expectations. OBJECTIVE To explore primary care patients' perspectives on antibiotic resistance and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and understand how thes...

This study compared the utilization and cost of antibacterial agents in surgical units of 2 government hospitals in Palestine. The consumption and cost of drugs was estimated in the units over a 1-month period in 2010 using the anatomical therapeutic chemical classification and defined daily doses (DDD) per 100 bed-days. The total consumption of antibacterial agents was 414.1 DDD and 591.5 DDD ...

General practitioners often prescribe antibiotics for diagnoses that do not require antibiotic treatment, partially because of the fear of treatment failure (and alibism). They are also strongly influenced by patients’ requests, and the empirical use of antibiotics is the main way of infection treatment in general practice in the Czech Republic. All this leads to non-adherence to the clinical r...

BACKGROUND Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) recently have emerged as a nosocomial pathogen among dialysis patients. This study aims to appraise the prevalence, incidence density and risk factors for VRE colonization among these patients. METHODS In this prospective study, 782 stool or rectal swab specimens were collected from 250 chronic hemodialysis patients with an interval of at leas...

Resistance to antibiotics is a worldwide concern and community pharmacies can play a strategic role in controlling this issue through rationalizing antibiotic consumption. Considering that dispensing any type of antibiotics without a prescription is prohibited in according to Iran’s regulations, this study was conducted to quantify the rate of antibiotic dispensing without a prescription by pha...