The Relationship between Antimicrobial Use and Antimicrobial Resistance in Europe

In Europe, antimicrobial resistance has been monitored since 1998 by the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (EARSS). We examined the relationship between penicillin nonsusceptibility of invasive isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae (an indicator organism) and antibiotic sales. Information was collected on 1998-99 resistance data for invasive isolates of S. pneumoniae to penicillin, based on surveillance data from EARSS and on outpatient sales during 1997 for beta-lactam antibiotics and macrolides. Our results show that in Europe antimicrobial resistance is correlated with use of beta-lactam antibiotics and macrolides