The top three antibiotics prescribed worldwide

Penicillins with β-lactamase inhibitors, 3rd-generation cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones are the top three antibiotics prescribed worldwide

Dr Anuj Sharma

The first Global Point Prevalence Survey (Global-PPS) compared antibiotic use and resistance across 303 hospitals in 53 countries.

Internet-based survey – included all inpatients receiving an antimicrobial who were on the ward at 0800 hours on one specific day between January and September 2015.

Key findings

·         34.4% hospitalized patients receive antibiotics, with huge variations among hospitals and countries

·         The top three antibiotics prescribed worldwide were penicillins with β-lactamase inhibitors, third-generation cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones.

·         A diagnostic test is used to support prescription in only 22% of cases, despite the decisive role that diagnostics play in ensuring the appropriate use of such medications

Interpretation

·         The Global-PPS shows that worldwide surveillance can be accomplished with voluntary participation, and provides quantifiable measures to assess and compare the quantity and quality of antibiotic prescribing and resistance in hospital patients worldwide

·         These data will help to improve the quality of antibiotic prescribing through education and practice changes, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries that have no tools to monitor antibiotic prescribing in hospitals.

Global-PPS was repeated in 2017, surveying 400 hospitals in 51 countries, and data was presented in poster sessions at the 2018 European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID).

(Lancet Glob Health. 2018 Jun;6(6):e619-e629)