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In this week's BMJ a team of researchers from Wales show for the first time that antibiotic prescribing within geographic communities can lead to localised antibiotic resistance. Dr John Magee from the Public Health Laboratory Service along with colleagues from the University of Wales College of Medicine and Bro Taf Health Authority report the findings of a two year study involving patients in North and South Wales. The authors examined the results of antibiotic sensitivity tests on bacteria in urine samples that had been taken by general practitioners for the purposes of diagnosing urinary tract infections.

Magee et al found that the correlation between the prescribing of certain antibiotics and resistance to those same antibiotics was often significant. They say that this is the first survey to suggest such geographically localised effects from antibiotic use in communities. The authors conclude that their findings "...bring the debate on prescribing in the community from the national to the local level and provide preliminary evidence that doctors may have to face the broader consequences of their antibiotic prescribing among their own patients."

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Contact: Jill Shepherd
jshepherd@bmj.com
44-171-383-6529
BMJ-British Medical Journal
4-Nov-1999