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. 2019 May 28:6:158.
doi: 10.3389/fvets.2019.00158. eCollection 2019.

Quantifying Antimicrobial Use in Dutch Companion Animals

Nonke E M Hopman  1 , Marloes A M van Dijk  1 , Els M Broens  1 , Jaap A Wagenaar  1   2   3 , Dick J J Heederik  2   4 , Ingeborg M van Geijlswijk  2   5
Affiliations

Quantifying Antimicrobial Use in Dutch Companion Animals

Nonke E M Hopman et al. Front Vet Sci. .

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an increasing threat, both in human and in veterinary medicine. To reduce the selection and spread of AMR, antimicrobial use (AMU) should be optimized, also in companion animals. To be able to optimize AMU, a feasible method to quantify AMU and information on current AMU are needed. Therefore, a method to quantify AMU was developed, using the number of Defined Daily Doses Animal (DDDA). This method was used to explore applied antimicrobial classes and to identify differences in prescribing patterns in time and between veterinary clinics. Antimicrobial procurement data of the years 2012-2014 were collected retrospectively from 100 Dutch veterinary clinics providing care for companion animals. The mean number of DDDAs per clinic per year decreased significantly from 2012 to 2014. A shift in used classes of antimicrobials (AMs) was seen as well, with a significant decrease in use of third choice AMs (i.e., fluoroquinolones and third generation cephalosporins). Large differences in total AMU were seen between clinics ranging from 64-fold in 2012 to 20-fold in 2014. Despite the relative low and decreasing AMU in Dutch companion animal clinics during the study, the substantial differences in antimicrobial prescribing practices between clinics suggest that there is still room for quantitative and qualitative optimization of AMU.

Keywords: DDDA; antibiotic; antimicrobial; companion animals; defined daily dose; prescribing; veterinary medicine.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Density function of DDDACLINIC/year for total AMU based upon procurement data of 100 clinics for 2012, 2013, and 2014.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Density function of DDDACLINIC/year for third choice AMU based upon procurement data of 100 clinics for 2012, 2013, and 2014.
Figure 3
Figure 3
DDDACLINIC figures for all 100 clinics in 2012, specified for first, second, and third choice antimicrobials, showing the differences in AMU between clinics (based upon procurement data of these 100 clinics).
Figure 4
Figure 4
DDDACLINIC figures for all 100 clinics in 2014, specified for first, second, and third choice antimicrobials, showing the differences in AMU between clinics (based upon procurement data of these 100 clinics).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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