Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Nov;28(46):2300604.
doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2023.28.46.2300604.

Rebound in community antibiotic consumption after the observed decrease during the COVID-19 pandemic, EU/EEA, 2022

Cèlia Ventura-Gabarró  1 , Vivian H Leung  1 , Vera Vlahović-Palčevski  2 , Anna Machowska  1 , Dominique L Monnet  1 , Liselotte Diaz Högberg  1 ; ESAC-Net study group  3 ; ESAC-Net study group participants
Collaborators, Affiliations

Rebound in community antibiotic consumption after the observed decrease during the COVID-19 pandemic, EU/EEA, 2022

Cèlia Ventura-Gabarró et al. Euro Surveill. 2023 Nov.

Abstract

We observed a rebound in consumption of antibacterials for systemic use (ATC J01) in the community sector in the European Union/European Economic Area during 2021 and 2022, after an observed decrease between 2019 and 2020. The rates in 2022 returned to pre-COVID-19-pandemic levels and were exceeded in 13 countries. Although these patterns could partly be a result of changes in disease transmission during the study period, it could also reflect a lost opportunity to strengthen and reinforce prudent antibiotic use.

Keywords: Antimicrobial consumption; COVID-19 pandemic; EU/EEA; antibiotic consumption.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Community consumption of antibacterials for systemic use (ATC group J01) by ATC group, population-weighted mean of 26 EU/EEA countries, 2019–2022
Figure 2
Figure 2
Community consumption of antibacterials for systemic use (ATC group J01) expressed as DDD per 1,000 inhabitants per day, 29 EU/EEA countries, 2019–2022
Figure 3
Figure 3
One-year differences in community consumption of antibacterials for systemic use (ATC group J01) in the community, 27 EU/EEA countries, 2019–2022
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Högberg LD, Vlahović-Palčevski V, Pereira C, Weist K, Monnet DL, ESAC-Net study group et al. Decrease in community antibiotic consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic, EU/EEA, 2020. Euro Surveill. 2021;26(46):2101020. 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.46.2101020 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Consumption Network (ESAC-Net). Annual Epidemiological Report for 2021. Stockholm: ECDC; 2022. Available from: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/ESAC-Net_AER_20...
    1. World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre (CC) for Drug Statistics Methodology. ATC/DDD Index 2023. Oslo: Norwegian Institute of Public Health (WHOCC); 2023. [Accessed: 10 Oct 2023]. Available from: https://www.whocc.no/atc_ddd_index
    1. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Antimicrobial consumption (AMC) reporting protocol 2023. Stockholm: ECDC; 2023. Available from: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/ESACNet_protoco...
    1. Council of the European Union. Council Recommendation on stepping up EU actions to combat antimicrobial resistance in a One Health approach. 2023. Available from: https://health.ec.europa.eu/publications/council-recommendation-stepping...

Substances