Use of antibiotics during the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND Interest has been shown in the use of antibiotics during the COVID-19 pandemic. In thisarticle we present the consumption of systemic antibiotics in Norway during the period ofthe pandemic. MATERIAL AND METHOD Total sales of systemic antibiotics in defined daily doses (DDD) were retrieved from thewholesaler-based medicinal product statistics for 2019 and 2020, and sales of antibiotics foruse outside of healthcare institutions were retrieved from the Norwegian prescriptiondatabase. Information was retrieved on the proportion of users (prevalence), doses(measured in DDD) and prescriptions. RESULTS Total sales of systemic antibiotics increased in March 2020, but sales to persons outside ofhealthcare institutions did not. Compared to previous years, both total consumption anduse of antibiotics outside of institutions fell steeply in the months that followed. Thereduction was greatest for antibiotics against respiratory infections and in the youngest agegroups.INTERPRETATIONThe significant reduction in the use of systemic antibiotics during the COVID-19 pandemicis attributed to infection control measures and reduced contact with the health service. In2016, the Norwegian government set a goal for a 30 % reduction in antibiotic use by the endof 2020. The pandemic has contributed to the achievement of that goa