Antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance in Scotland

Health Protection Scotland has published a new report highlighting antibiotic use and resistance to antibiotics in Scotland during 2018.

Key findings from the report are as follows:

• The total antibiotic use in 2018 has declined by 6.2 per cent since 2014. The use has specifically decreased by 10.2 per cent in primary care but increased by 16.0 per cent in acute hospitals.
• In 2018, 83.2 per cent of antibiotic use was in primary and community care settings and the rest in hospitals.
• In 2018, 27.3 per cent of individuals were prescribed at least one course of antibiotics in primary care.
• A total of 1424 bacteraemia cases resistant to one or more antibiotics were recorded in 2018.
• In 2018, a quarter of Escherichia coli bacteraemia cases were resistant to one or more antibiotics.
• The antibiotic resistance levels against E coli bacteraemia and similar infections have remained stable over the past five years.
• There has been a significant rise in laboratory reports of carbapenemase-producing bacteria since 2014; however, it has plateaued between 2017 and 2018. 
• There has been a 43.2 per cent increase in resistance to vancomycin in some types of infection.
• In 2018, ~10 per cent of gonorrhoea cases showed some resistance to azithromycin.