På svenskaSWEDRES 2009
A Report on Swedish Antimicrobial Utilisation and Resistance in Human Medicine, published by Strama and The Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control. Announced June 1st 2010.
Download SWEDRES 2009 as pdf here.
The antibiotic resistance state worsened in 2009
The situation of antimicrobial resistance continues to worsen overall in Sweden. This concerns particularly the increase in gram negative intestinal bacteria producing ESBL. 3754 cases of ESBL were reported in 2009. When comparing the second half of 2009 with the same period in 2008 a 27 percent increase was noted. This is shown in The Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control (SMI) and Strama's annual report Swedres 2009.
For the third consecutive years, cases of multi-resistant ESBL-producing bacteria resistant also to carbapenems are reported in Sweden. Carbapenems are one of the few groups of antibiotics that remain active against this type of bacteria. In 2009, three cases of resistance to carbapenems were reported. In all these cases there was an underlying history of medical care in Southern Europe. So far in Sweden, 13 cases of various types of resistance to carbapenems have been reported.
Reduced use of antibiotics
The more antibiotics we use the greater the risk of occurrence and spread of resistant bacteria. One bright spot is that antibiotic prescribing in outpatient care decreased sharply by 7.4 percent in 2009. Still antibiotic use varies widely among counties in Sweden, both in terms of volumes and in choice of drug.
Common with repeated courses for children
The largest decrease was seen in children (0-6 years) in which the outpatient prescription decreased by 17.2 percent. An analysis done by the National Board of Health and Welfare shows that it is common that children receive repeated courses of antibiotics. Every ten recipe for respiratory antibiotics to children (0-6 years) are followed by a new course in 14 days. This can have several causes such as problems for the children to take medicine in the manner intended.
