pipelineincludethesoil-derivedteix-
obactinandcefiderocol.Butin 2017
theWHOwarnedthatonlyeightofthe
51 therapiesindevelopmenttotreat
antibiotic-resistantpathogenswere
innovativetreatmentsthat could add
valuetoexistingdrugs.
EUROPE’S
TROUBLINGTRENDS
“THEREISALARGE
VARIATION in the
levelofconsumption
ofantibioticsamong
Europeancountries,”
saysSandgrenofRe-
ActEurope.Accord-
ing to the ECDC,
people in Spain,
France, Romania
andPolandarethe
biggest consum-
ers.Meanwhile,the
Dutch,Estoniansand
Swedes use them
verylittle.IntheNetherlandsand
Sweden,thereisa downwardtrend,
withGermany,Italy,Norwayandthe
UKalsoshowingdecreasinguse.
Atleast 80 percentofantibioticsare
prescribedinthecommunity,mostly
byfamilydoctors.Butpeoplecanalso
getthemontheinternet,directlyfrom
pharmacies,andeven– asI found– in
othershops.Sometimespeoplepass
unusedtabletstofriendsorfamily
members.A 2017 EuropeanUnion
(EU)reportfoundthatsevenpercent
of antibiotics were taken without
prescription.OneinfiveEuropeans
tookantibioticsforcoldsorfluin
2018,eventhoughantibioticsdon’t
killviruses.
However,onecountrythathaslong
embracedgoodantibioticstewardship
isSweden.Therapidspreadofpen-
icillin-resistantearinfectionsamong
childrenintheearly1990sactedas
a wake-up call.Itledtothecreation
in 1995 ofStrama,a
strategicprogramme
tackling antibiotic
resistanceatlocal,
regional and na-
tionallevels.Today,
local multi-profes-
sionalgroupswork
withGPs,whilethe
government funds
anationalexecutive
group.Thereisrigor-
ousmonitoringboth
ofantibioticprescrib-
ingandresistance,
anda targetofnomorethan 250 pre-
scriptionsa yearper 1000 inhabitants.
Keepingprescribersuptodateis
crucial.“Thereareconstantlynew
studies beingdoneandtodaywe
knowthattherearefew,relatively
smallsub-groupsofrespiratorytract
infectionsthatfarebetterwithanti-
bioticsthanwithout,”saysLarsBlad,
chairmanoftheStramaNetworkand
WHOconsultantoncontaininganti-
bioticresistance.“Thesestudiesare
continuouslytakenintomodernand
updated treatment guidelines.”“THEMORE
WEUSE
ANTIBIOTICS,
THEMORE
RESISTANCE
WILL EMERGE”53
Keep Antibiotics Working