EU Report Provides Basis for Fight Against Resistant Bacteria

A new EU report provides a basis for the effective fight against development of resistant bacteria, says a European Medicines Agency (EMA) press release.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)/European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)/EMA joint report on the integrated analysis of the consumption of antimicrobial agents and occurrence of antimicrobial resistance in bacteria from humans and food-producing animals highlights that use of certain antimicrobials in animals and humans is associated with resistance to these antimicrobials in bacteria from animals and humans. There are also important differences in the consumption of antimicrobials in animals and in humans between European countries.

The report also identifies data limitations that need to be addressed to allow further analysis and conclusions to be drawn. These include additional data on antimicrobial consumption by animal species, data on antimicrobial consumption in hospitals in more European countries and monitoring of resistant bacteria in the normal flora from both healthy and diseased people.

The analysis was carried out at the request of the European Commission (EC) and combines data from five European monitoring networks that gather information from the EU Member States, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. The joint report will inform the EC’s action plan against the rising threats from antimicrobial resistance. The data will also contribute to establishing strong methodologies and priorities in the fight against the development of antimicrobial resistance.

Source: EMA