An extensive analysis of data from more than 280,000 children around the world showed that antibiotic use remained stable in high-income countries, at least until the pandemic. However, in North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia, antibiotic use has more than doubled. The popularity of certain medicines, such as third-generation cephalosporins, has grown 37-fold. At the same time, sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest levels of antibiotic consumption in the world. The authors of the study note that it is in this region that sepsis is most common.
Also of concern is the misuse of antibacterial medicine in South and Southeast Asia, where there are many unlicensed medicine suppliers and self-medication is common. The uncontrolled use of antibiotics has already caused bacteria to develop almost 100% resistance to certain drugs. According to the WHO, this is the case with ciprofloxacin, a common drug for urinary tract infections.
WHO warns that bacterial resistance due to the inappropriate use of antibiotics during the COVID-19 pandemic may have a negative impact on drug treatment. Antibiotics are often prescribed to coronavirus patients “just in case”. However, scientists have found that additional infections rarely develop during covid, and antibiotics are only necessary for critically ill patients in intensive care units.
Source: https://www.who.int/ru/news/item/01-06-2020-record-number-of-countries-contribute-data-revealing-disturbing-rates-of-antimicrobial-resistance
