Antibiotic stewardship: good news, bad news and the latest updates

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has become one of the biggest threats to global health – without effective antimicrobials for prevention and treatment of infections, medical procedures such as organ transplantation, cancer chemotherapy, diabetes management and major surgery will become very high risk. In addition, there is growing concern that the last line of antibiotics is failing for some pathogens.

On the ninth European Antibiotic Awareness Day, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) released its latest EU-wide data on antibiotic resistance and antibiotic consumption. In 2015, antibiotic resistance continued to increase for most bacteria and antibiotics under surveillance. In particular, the EU average percentage of carbapenem resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae increased from 6.2% in 2012 to 8.1% in 2015, and sometimes combined resistance to carbapenems and polymyxins (eg colistin) was reported. These two groups are considered last-line antibiotics as they usually are the last treatment options for patients infected with bacteria resistant to other available antibiotics. While antibiotic consumption in hospitals significantly increased in several EU member states, antibiotic consumption in the community decreased in six states.

Vytenis Andriukaitis, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, said: “Antibiotic resistance is one of the most pressing public health issues of our time. If we don’t tackle it, we can go back to a time when even the simplest medical operations were not possible, and organ transplants, cancer chemotherapy or intensive care even less so.” He added: “The European Commission will launch a new Action Plan in 2017 so that we can, together with our partners in the EU member states and internationally, continue to ensure that the prevention and control of antibiotic resistance is strengthened within a one-health approach.”