Approaches to reduce antibiotic resistance in the community

Abstract

During the last two decades, there has been an alarming worldwide increase of resistance to antibiotics of bacterial pathogens responsible for community-acquired infections. This dramatic evolution is generally attributed to the extensive use of antibiotics and the selective pressure on the bacterial strains. To decrease antibiotics resistance in the community, several approaches should be considered through: reducing unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions: inappropriate antibiotic treatments are becoming a major issue; however, few studies have shown a decrease of antibiotic resistance following a reduction of antibiotic use in the community;decreasing the prescriptions of the more selective antibiotic compounds for some bacterial species, eg macrolides and group A streptococcus (GAS), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and pneumococcus; using an optimal dosage and duration of antibiotic regimens chosen; some studies have suggested that low dosage and long treatment duration could promote antibiotic resistance; and implementing the pneumococcal conjugate vaccines; several studies have shown a decline in the proportion of penicillin nonsusceptible Streptococcus pneumoniae isolated from invasive pneumococcal diseases or nasopharyngeal flora. The combination of these approaches, particularly the reduction of antibiotic use and pneumococcal immunization, could be synergistic.