Swiss doctors prescribed more antibiotics during Corona

Doctors in Switzerland prescribed antibiotics twice as often in the first year of the corona pandemic as before. This is evident from a new study by the University and University Hospital of Basel. This is despite the fact that antibiotics do not work against viruses such as the coronavirus, as the University of Basel emphasized in a statement on Monday.

According to the study published in the journal “Clinical Microbiology and Infection”, antibiotic use has doubled from approximately eight prescriptions per 100 consultations in 2017 to 16 antibiotic prescriptions per 100 consultations in 2020. The increase in the number of prescriptions was therefore evident for all antibiotic classes. , also for those not primarily intended for the treatment of respiratory infections.

The researchers find this worrying: the excessive and inappropriate use of antibiotics increases the risk of bacteria becoming resistant to the active substance used, explains study leader Heiner Bucher in a statement from the University of Basel. Multi-resistant bacteria lead to infections that are difficult to treat.

“For future viral pandemics, intervention plans should be established with timely activation steps to minimize unwarranted antibiotic consumption in primary care,” the researchers wrote in the study.

The researchers cited fears of additional bacterial complications from Covid-19 infection as possible reasons for the increase. The lack of diagnostic and treatment options against Covid-19 may also have played a role, as the University of Basel wrote in a statement.

However, according to the researchers, ‘blind prescribing’, for example via telephone consultations, was not the decisive factor for the increase. The majority of the prescriptions were drawn up during consultations in the practice.

The researchers from the University and University Hospital of Basel started their research into antibiotic prescribing in 2017. The basis was fully anonymized individual patient data of more than two million people with health insurance of all age groups, as well as physician billing data.

They then examined data from almost 3,000 pediatricians and general practitioners during the pandemic to see how prescribing behavior changed as a result of Corona.

In a next step, the research team wants to investigate whether prescribing practices have changed again in the years after the pandemic. In addition, she wants to investigate, in collaboration with the Swiss Center for Antibiotic Resistance, how resistance develops as a result of increased antibiotic use. (saw/sda)