Medicine - AOK study: number of antibiotic prescriptions has risen
Last year, significantly more antibiotics were prescribed in Baden-Württemberg than during the coronavirus pandemic. The number of prescriptions rose by a quarter compared to the previous year, almost reaching pre-pandemic levels, according to AOK Baden-Württemberg. There is no trend for the current year yet.
According to AOK Baden-Württemberg, the figures relate to antibiotic prescriptions for its insured patients between 2010 and 2022. Only antibiotics prescribed on an outpatient basis were taken into account and not only locally effective agents such as ointments or eye drops. Antibiotics are only effective against bacterial infections and not, for example, when viruses are the cause of a cold.
The health insurance company blames several possible reasons for the trend. Firstly, infections have decreased during the pandemic. This could have led to fewer antibiotics being prescribed, as fewer bacterial infections were treated. In addition, the number of people infected with group A streptococcus rose sharply in the last quarter of last year after the end of the lockdown measures. This form of bacteria is mainly spread through direct contact with infected people or contaminated objects and is treated with antibiotics. Doctors may have prescribed more of these to treat infections and prevent complications.
Especially in hospitals, there are often bacteria circulating against which hardly any antibiotics are effective. Experts speak of antibiotic resistance when patients do not respond to an antibiotic, i.e. when the disease-causing bacteria are not destroyed by the antibiotic. Multi-resistant pathogens are those against which several or all available antibiotics are no longer effective. According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), around 50,000 people in Germany fall ill with antibiotic-resistant pathogens every year.
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- Despite the decrease in infections during the Coronavirus pandemic, the use of health insurance for antibiotics in Baden-Württemberg significantly increased, as reported by AOK Stuttgart.
- In Baden-Württemberg, health insurance company AOK found a significant rise in antibiotic prescriptions for their insured patients in 2021, reaching almost pre-pandemic levels.
- While antibiotic prescriptions for AOK members in Baden-Württemberg saw a 25% increase, the total number for 2022 has yet to be determined.
- The increase in antibiotic prescriptions in Baden-Württemberg was primarily due to a spike in group A streptococcus infections towards the end of 2021, necessitating the use of antibiotics.
Source: www.stern.de
