CANBERRA, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Australian hospitals and aged care facilities are fuelling the rise of antibiotic-resistant superbugs according to a government report.
The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care on Thursday released its third annual report on antimicrobial use and resistance in Australia (AURA).
It found that E. coli is building resistance to frontline antibiotics, the quickest followed by salmonella, Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Neisseria meningitidis, with some organisms developing resistance to last-resort treatments.
Microbial resistance builds as a result of the overuse and misuse of antibiotics.
Despite a national campaign for doctors to reduce the number of antibiotics they prescribed, the report found that the rate of prescriptions in hospital has risen from 932.8 defined daily doses (DDDs) per 1,000 occupied bed days (OBDs) in 2016 to 956.8 DDDs per 1,000 OBDs in 2017.
More than half the antimicrobial prescriptions in aged care homes that participated in the Aged Care National Antimicrobial Prescribing Survey (AC NAPS) were for residents who showed no signs or symptoms of infection.
The rate of inappropriate prescriptions fell among the wider community but still remains above the recommended level.
"While the downward shift in prescribing will help to slow the spread of resistance, these latest AURA findings indicate that the levels of inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics in hospitals and the community are still too high and there is more work to be done," Kathryn Daveson, clinical director of AURA, said in a media release.
"AURA 2019 also identifies focus areas that need increased attention - including reducing inappropriate prescribing of broad spectrum antibiotics, particularly for urinary tract and skin infections; and improving the appropriateness of antibiotic prescribing for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other respiratory infections."
