The slogan, we have it in mind: “antibiotics are not automatic!” Good news: during the year 2020, the consumption of antibiotic drugs has seriously decreased in France, according to the latest Weekly Epidemiological Bulletin of Public Health France.
In detail: while in 2013, doctors made (on average) 2.73 antibiotic prescriptions per 1,000 inhabitants per day, this figure fell to 2.33 in 2019, then to 1.82 in 2020. consumption of antibiotics, meanwhile, fell by 17% on average in 2020 compared to what was expected by experts.
Public Health France experts have specifically noticed a significant drop in the consumption of broad-spectrum penicillins: this class of antibiotics (which remains the most prescribed in France) had experienced a peak in consumption in 2019.
The Covid-19 epidemic has led to a drop in the consumption of antibiotics
How can this drop in the consumption of antibiotics be explained? For experts from Public Health France, this is a consequence of the Covid-19 epidemic: “the Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on individual behavior, social relationships and the strengthening of hygiene measures to prevent bacterial infections“. Specialists give the example of the flu: “published data (…) concerning several common viral infections (including influenza), which sometimes lead to antibiotic treatment, show a decrease in the prevalence of these infections during the pandemic“.
In addition, antibiotics (which are only available on prescription) have suffered from the general decline in medical consultations: “[la pandémie] also led to a drop in the use of routine care in the city, in particular during the first confinement“.
Is the decrease in the consumption of antibiotics a good thing? On the antibiotic resistance front, yes. Because we know: the excessive use of antibiotic drugs tends to make them less effective against bacteria. However, as Public Health France points out, “if the slightest recourse to the healthcare system has certainly made it possible to avoid unnecessary prescriptions, it could also have resulted in non-prescriptions, when antibiotic therapy would have been justified“…
Read also :
- Too many drugs are still given to children under 6
- Gonorrhea, a disease soon to be incurable because of covid-19?
- Green tea may help eliminate superbugs
