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(1) ANTIBIOTIC
PRESCRIBING IN LOCAL COMMUNITIES
IS LINKED TO
LOCALIZED RESISTANCE
(1) ANTIBIOTIC
PRESCRIBING IN LOCAL COMMUNITIES
IS LINKED TO LOCALIZED RESISTANCE
(Antibiotic prescribing and antibiotic
resistance in community
practice: retrospective study, 1996-8)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/319/7219/1239
In this week's BMJ a team of researchers
from Wales show
for the first time that antibiotic prescribing
within geographic
communities can lead to localized antibiotic
resistance. Dr John
Magee from the Public Health Laboratory
Service along with
colleagues from the University of Wales
College of Medicine
and Bro Taf Health Authority report the
findings of a two year
study involving patients in North and
South Wales. The authors
examined the results of antibiotic sensitivity
tests on bacteria in
urine samples that had been taken by general
practitioners for
the purposes of diagnosing urinary tract
infections.
Magee et al found that the correlation
between the prescribing
of certain antibiotics and resistance
to those same antibiotics
was often significant. They say that this
is the first survey to
suggest such geographically localized
effects from antibiotic use
in communities. The authors conclude that
their findings "...bring
the debate on prescribing in the community
from the national to
the local level and provide preliminary
evidence that doctors
may have to face the broader consequences
of their antibiotic
prescribing among their own patients."
Contact:
Simon Gregor, Head of Press and Media Activities,
Public Health Laboratory Service Headquarters,
Colindale
Avenue, London
Email: sgregor@phls.nhs.uk
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