The World Health Organization (WHO) refers to it as “Silent pandemic” and one of the world’s greatest threats to public health. Every year, antibiotic resistance, or the resistance of bacteria to antimicrobials, compromises the ability of medicines to treat infections, leading to treatment failures, delays in care and 1.3 million deaths worldwide – 35,000 in Europe, 5,500 in France.

While this phenomenon requires a concerted approach between human and veterinary medicine, the latest French health surveillance data show a contrasting situation: a resumption of antibiotic use was observed in humans in 2022. according to Public Health France (SPF) when animal exposure to antibiotics has fallen sharply, the National Health Security Agency (ANSES) notes in its report Report published on Friday, November 17th.

France remains one of Europe’s worst performers in terms of human consumption, ranking fifth among countries with the highest per capita consumption behind Romania, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Greece. It was therefore 31% above the average for European countries. “What strikes me is the successive failures of the latest national antibiotic plans for almost twenty years.”laments Professor Robert Cohen, President of the National Professional Council of Pediatrics.

Certainly, the first antibiotic plan for the period 2001-2005 succeeded in reducing antibiotic consumption in France by 19%. But since then, the use of these therapeutic weapons has not declined sufficiently. According to the SPF, antibiotic consumption rose from around 1,000 prescriptions per 1,000 inhabitants in 2012 to over 800 prescriptions in 2022 (excluding hospital admissions). Last year was particularly characterized by an increase in sales of 16.6% compared to 2021.

“The prescription system remains very liberal”

Almost 90% of antibiotics are prescribed in community medicine and the resumption of their use has been confirmed. SPF indicates that “However, the observed values ​​remain slightly lower than those of 2019”, before the Covid-19 pandemic. During this health crisis, the use of these drugs had decreased significantly: lockdowns and barrier measures had slowed the spread of infectious germs of all kinds.

In 2022, prescriptions for children ages 0 to 4 – the age group where they are highest – have even surpassed 2019 levels. During the pandemic, exit restrictions and barrier measures have weakened children’s natural immune defenses by limiting infections. “But once these measures were lifted, infections and prescriptions increased even more because these children were less well vaccinated.”explains Robert Cohen. In fact, that existed in 2022 “An explosion in pediatric infections, particularly in winter, reaching levels rarely seen.”. While bronchiolitis, like other viral diseases, does not require antibiotics (with the exception of some bacterial superinfections), strep throat, scarlet fever, impetigo, and other bacterial infections have greatly increased the use of these treatments.

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