{"id":2370,"date":"2016-03-18T08:10:45","date_gmt":"2016-03-18T12:10:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/?p=2370"},"modified":"2016-03-23T04:39:07","modified_gmt":"2016-03-23T08:39:07","slug":"overcoming-antimicrobial-resistance-a-european-report-recommends-deja-vu-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/2016\/03\/18\/2370\/overcoming-antimicrobial-resistance-a-european-report-recommends-deja-vu-action\/","title":{"rendered":"Overcoming Antimicrobial Resistance \u2013 A European Report Recommends Deja-Vu Action"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"OECD<\/a><\/p>\n

Sometimes one comes across a particularly well-written policy document which summarizes the status quo of antimicrobial resistance by connecting and synthesizing data from all kinds of sources into a coherent framework.<\/p>\n

The 2015 OECD Report on Antimicrobial Resistance in G7 Countries and Beyond: Economic Issues, Policies and Options for Action<\/em> is such a document as it describes, analyzes the resistance trends and the bundles of measures already taken: a highly informative document\u2026really well written.<\/p>\n

\"HR_abx<\/a><\/p>\n

It provides a snapshot of the current situation, discusses the burden of illness, the complications caused by MDR infections, impact on mortality and cost to health care systems, trajectory of resistance trends for key pathogens as well as current national and more recent international efforts to stem the tide. It also presents a detailed and very useful overview of regulatory actions already in place.<\/p>\n

\"Complication<\/a>
Source: OECP: Report on Antimicrobial Resistance in G7 Countries and Beyond. 2015<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As one reads this compilation of facts and figures, one would expect some very specific recommendations for further corrective action. After all, the documentation shows that the combined actions already taken have proven inadequate; there is still a galloping cavalry of resistant organisms out there, which at best has been slowed down a bit. In most countries the trend to ever increasing resistance rates continues\u00a0unabated.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, this is not the case.\u00a0In the end, we are presented with a well-worn litany of policy suggestions that nobody would contradict but which, nonetheless, cannot be expected to make a significant difference. The recommendations for Health Policy makers are simply too vague and don\u2019t break new ground.<\/p>\n

More importantly, the document does not convey any sense of urgency. As we read about huge costs, increased mortality, rapidly spreading pathogens and a dry antibiotic pipeline, it seems as though the authors have not yet grasped the monumental general health care changes that\u00a0come about once we lose the only major curative drug category ever discovered.<\/p>\n

Without effective antibiotics to deal with the complications otherwise seen with advanced general and specialized surgical procedures such as organ transplantation, obstetrical and neonatal medicine, these and other\u00a0medical practices will be affected and indications will have to\u00a0change.<\/p>\n

\"Abx<\/a>
Antibiotic Consumption [dose] per 1000 inhabitants\u00a0per day\u00a0(from: OECD Report: Overcoming Antimicrobial Resistance, 2015)<\/figcaption><\/figure>It will be painful; the push-back by special interest groups will be formidable. As an example, the US branch of government, the FDA, doesn\u2019t even have the power to outlaw the use of antibiotics in veterinary medicine, an area where 80% of antibiotics are currently used, and which is a broiler unit in its own right, generating antibiotic resistance on a big scale. The OECD forecasts a further 67% increase in antibiotic consumption\u00a0in\u00a0veterinary medicine in the coming years.<\/p>\n

The prophylactic use of antibiotics in veterinary and human medicine is a luxury which we cannot afford if we are serious about antibiotic stewardship and want to preserve a precious resource for the treatment of infections. \u00a0It is a practice to be stopped as well; it amounts to watering one\u2019s lawn during a California drought!<\/p>\n

It took an obstreperous personality like Ignaz Semmelweis to push through necessary reforms to change medical practice attitudes in 1850, and the same bulldog mentality is needed now.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0If every country had similarly high resistance rates, there would no longer be a correlation with per-capita antibiotic consumption. The nay-sayers would then argue that a linkage cannot be proven. We may be moving in that direction. \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Surgical and transplant operations are still performed, as if we still had the miracle drugs to bail us out. It is time to inform patients that the infection statistics for these procedures are no longer applicable, as we are much less able to handle infectious complications now than ever before. The increased mortality due to MDR pathogens needs to be publicly acknowledged before each operative procedure to the patient and the family and factored into decision-making of doctors and patients together. Insurers will also need to adjust premiums to reflect the increased risks of hard-to-treat or untreatable hospital acquired infections.<\/p>\n

Somehow it seems that neither IDSA nor AMA have been as vocal and politically active as the situation would demand. The lawyer guild will most likely jump into the fray and \u2018help\u2019 us all make adjustments to the new reality, as we are entering the Brave New Post-Antibiotic World.<\/p>\n

Antibiotic stewardship can make a difference \u2013 the Netherlands and Scandinavian countries have proven that MRSA can be controlled, bucking the trend to ever-greater resistance. However, their approach is neither easy to implement nor cheap. But it has proven to be cost-effective.<\/p>\n

In contrast, the rich USA and cash-strapped Greece as examples share the same spost on the chart when it comes to resistance rates and antibiotic consumption (see Figure below). Not something to be proud of.<\/p>\n

\"Abx<\/a>
The Correlation between Antimicrobial Consumption and PRSP Resistance (from: OECD Report: Antimicrobial Resistance in G7 Countries and Beyond.\u00a02015)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Abbreviations:
\n<\/strong>PRSP \u00a0 \u00a0penicillin-resistant S. pneumoniae
\nOECD \u00a0 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development<\/p>\n

Reference:<\/strong>
\nM\u00a0Cecchini. Antimicrobial Resistance in G7 Countries and Beyond: Economic Issues, Policies and Options for Action. 2015<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sometimes one comes across a particularly well-written policy document which summarizes the status quo of antimicrobial resistance by connecting and synthesizing data from all kinds of sources into a coherent framework. The 2015 OECD Report on Antimicrobial Resistance in G7 Countries and Beyond: Economic Issues, Policies and Options for Action Continue reading Overcoming Antimicrobial Resistance \u2013 A European Report Recommends Deja-Vu Action<\/span>→<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2377,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[140,227,3,18],"tags":[1271,1572,403,1569,266,1574,1583,1573,27,1571,83,1568,1586,1570],"class_list":["post-2370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting_facts","category-recent_literature","category-the_news","category-the_viewpoint","tag-allphase-pharma-consulting","tag-ama","tag-antibiotic-blog","tag-antibiotic-consumption","tag-antibiotic-resistance","tag-antisepsis","tag-harald-reinhart","tag-hygiene","tag-idsa","tag-ignaz-semmelweis","tag-mrsa","tag-oecd","tag-penicillin-resistant-pneumococcus","tag-prsp"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/OECD-slider-copy-1.jpg?fit=640%2C180&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4KWFr-Ce","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":617,"url":"https:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/2014\/07\/17\/617\/greenwood-antimicrobial-drugs-chronicle-of-a-twentieth-century-medical-triumph\/","url_meta":{"origin":2370,"position":0},"title":"Greenwood: Antimicrobial Drugs \u2013 Chronicle of a Twentieth Century Medical Triumph","author":"Harald","date":"July 17, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"This is not meant to be a book review. \u00a0I just want to\u00a0express my gratitude\u00a0to Prof. Greenwood for writing a book about\u00a0the remarkable story\u00a0of antibiotic discovery\u00a0and development of the last century. \u00a0It is clearly a labor of love, written with knowledge, enthusiasm, wisdom and perspective. He takes us on a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Viewpoint"","block_context":{"text":"The Viewpoint","link":"https:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/category\/the_viewpoint\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Antimicrobial Drugs: \/ Greenwood","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/book_stack.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5289,"url":"https:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/2025\/09\/11\/5289\/antibiotic-use-in-veterinary-medicine\/","url_meta":{"origin":2370,"position":1},"title":"ANTIBIOTIC USE IN VETERINARY MEDICINE","author":"Harald","date":"September 11, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"A ton is a tonne, by any other name.\u00a0 A tonne, also called a metric tonne, is the equivalent of 1,000 kg.\u00a0 There are also imperial tonnes and long tonnes which have a slightly different conversion factor:\u00a0 1 tonne of either is equivalent to 1.01604691 metric tonnes. The amount of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Did you know...?"","block_context":{"text":"Did you know...?","link":"https:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/category\/interesting_facts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1385,"url":"https:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/2015\/04\/21\/1385\/an-inconvenient-truth-ciprofloxacin-resistant-campylobacter\/","url_meta":{"origin":2370,"position":2},"title":"An Inconvenient Truth: Ciprofloxacin-Resistant Campylobacter","author":"Harald","date":"April 21, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"When Al Gore became a best-selling author with \u201cAn Inconvenient Truth\u201d he warned about climate change.\u00a0 When it comes to antibiotic resistance and the current situation of \u201cBad Bugs, No Drugs\u201d, there are many voices warning us about a return to the pre-antibiotic era. Why does it take so long\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Viewpoint"","block_context":{"text":"The Viewpoint","link":"https:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/category\/the_viewpoint\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"An Inconv T","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/An-Inconv-T.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1521,"url":"https:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/2015\/06\/07\/1521\/cattle-and-pigs-and-chickens-oh-yeah\/","url_meta":{"origin":2370,"position":3},"title":"Cattle and Pigs and Chickens, Oh Yeah!","author":"Harald","date":"June 7, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"When the Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) Final Rule was announced earlier this month by FDA, the accompanying press release called it a \u2018major step towards judicious antibiotic use\u2019 in veterinary medicine\u00a0[1]. There are several elements which look good, at least on paper: As prescribers of any and all antibiotics it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Did you know...?"","block_context":{"text":"Did you know...?","link":"https:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/category\/interesting_facts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"images","src":"http:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/images.jpe","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1722,"url":"https:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/2015\/07\/15\/1722\/streptomyces-the-industrious-antibiotic-producer\/","url_meta":{"origin":2370,"position":4},"title":"Streptomyces \u2013 The Industrious Antibiotic Producer","author":"Harald","date":"July 15, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Like other\u00a0actinomycetes, the Streptomyces group of microbes straddles the somewhat artificial boundary between bacteria and fungi.\u00a0Growth on culture plates looks 'fungal' and the organism produces spores and germtubes that look like mycelia.\u00a0 Nonetheless these soil organisms are bacteria and of great interest to microbiologists as the producers of many antibiotics\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Did you know...?"","block_context":{"text":"Did you know...?","link":"https:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/category\/interesting_facts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Streptomyces slider-2 copy","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Streptomyces-slider-2-copy.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Streptomyces-slider-2-copy.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Streptomyces-slider-2-copy.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5219,"url":"https:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/2025\/09\/03\/5219\/listeria-food-recalls-outbreaks-and-resistance\/","url_meta":{"origin":2370,"position":5},"title":"LISTERIA: Food Recalls, Outbreaks, and Resistance","author":"Harald","date":"September 3, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"You may be aware of recent food product recalls associated with food poisoning due to listeria contamination: ready-to-eat products, deli meats, sandwiches, protein snacks, chicken, turkey, cheese and dairy products.\u00a0 The list is long as Listeria is ubiquitous in the environment.\u00a0 One can find it in meat and milk\/cheese products\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Did you know...?"","block_context":{"text":"Did you know...?","link":"https:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/category\/interesting_facts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/image-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/image-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/image-1.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/image-1.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2370"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2370\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2394,"href":"https:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2370\/revisions\/2394"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}