From 18 until 24 November, the World Antibiotic Awareness Week on the Use of Antimicrobials is celebrated worldwide. On the occasion of this event, HAPPY PATIENT has expressed its concern in this regard, more specifically regarding the prophylaxis of urinary infection as a frequent indication for the use of antimicrobials in residences.
There is evidence that long-term antimicrobial use can reduce the risk of recurrence of UTIs in women. On the one hand, the benefit decreases the moment the use of antimicrobials stops. On the other hand, long-term antibiotics administration is associated with a significant increase in the proportion of antibiotic-resistant bacteria isolated from urine and feces.
In fact, the Global Antimicrobial Use and Resistance Surveillance System (GLASS) recently reported that the rate of resistance to ciprofloxacin, an antibiotic commonly used to treat urinary tract infections, is between 8.4% and 92.9%; in Escherichia coli and between 4.1% and 79.4% in Klebsiella pneumoniae.