Antibiotics ‘overprescribed’

OVER-PRESCRIBING of antibiotics in Australia has now been quantified, according to an article published in the D: .

New acute respiratory infections (ARIs) accounted for 51% of all new problems in general practice managed with an antibiotic, the authors wrote, but “had GPs adhered to widely consulted antibiotic prescribing guidelines, the rate of prescription would have been less than a quarter of the current rate - an estimated 0.65 to 1.36 million prescriptions per year nationally, instead of 5.97 million.

The new research, led by Christopher Del Mar, Professor of Public Health at Bond University, compiled general practice activity for Apr 2010 to Mar 2015, based on data from the Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health (BEACH) study, and compared it with Therapeutic Guidelines recommendations.

“Antibiotics are not recommended by the guidelines for acute bronchitis/bronchiolitis, but GPs are prescribing them in 85% of cases,” Del Mar wrote.

“Similarly, they are not recommended for influenza, but are being prescribed in 11% of cases,” although guidelines always recommend them for communityacquired pneumonia, pertussis, acute rhinosinusitis, otitis media and acute pharyngitis or tonsillitis.

“The potential for reducing rates of antibiotic prescription and to thereby reduce rates of antibiotic-related harms, particularly bacterial resistance, is … substantial,” Del Mar and his colleagues concluded.

“Our data provide the basis for setting absolute targets for reducing antibiotic prescribing in Australian general practice.”

CLICK Here for the research.