The top three antibiotics prescribed worldwide

May 9, 2019

Penicillins with β-lactamase inhibitors, 3rd-generation cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones are the top three antibiotics prescribed worldwide

healthysoch

New Delhi, May 09, 2019 :

The first Global Point Prevalence Survey (Global-PPS) compared antibiotic use and resistance across 303 hospitals in 53 countries.

Internet-based survey – included all inpatients receiving an antimicrobial who were on the ward at 0800 hours on one specific day between January and September 2015.

Key findings

  • 34.4% hospitalized patients receive antibiotics, with huge variations among hospitals and countries
  • The top three antibiotics prescribed worldwide were penicillins with β-lactamase inhibitors, third-generation cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones.
  • A diagnostic test is used to support prescription in only 22% of cases, despite the decisive role that diagnostics play in ensuring the appropriate use of such medications

Interpretation

  • The Global-PPS shows that worldwide surveillance can be accomplished with voluntary participation, and provides quantifiable measures to assess and compare the quantity and quality of antibiotic prescribing and resistance in hospital patients worldwide
  • These data will help to improve the quality of antibiotic prescribing through education and practice changes, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries that have no tools to monitor antibiotic prescribing in hospitals.

Global-PPS was repeated in 2017, surveying 400 hospitals in 51 countries, and data was presented in poster sessions at the 2018 European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID).

(Lancet Glob Health. 2018 Jun;6(6):e619-e629) 

The Author of this article is Dr Anuj Sharma

Stay informed with the latest news from HealthySoch. Sign up today for exclusive insights and updates!

We promise we never spam!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Columnists

HealthySoch

Don't Miss

India still lags behind in child nutrition with a child-wasting prevalence of 21%

India still lags behind in child nutrition with a child-wasting prevalence of 21%

A healthy diet including all food groups is key to

Close to one billion people globally are served by health-care facilities with unreliable electricity

India healthysoch Geneva, Switzerland/ New Delhi, January 18, 2023: Close