MedicineInsight
Tabular data
Publication: AURA 2017
Second Australian report on antimicrobial use and resistance in human health
A publication from the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC)
MedicineInsight tabular data was provided for the Antimicrobial Use and Resistance in Australia (AURA) 2017 report to enable the integration of clinical data from general practice to evaluate and publish patterns and trends for patients prescribed systemic antimicrobials, and assesses the appropriateness of prescribing for specific conditions such as upper respiratory tract infections and urinary tract infections.
Key issues identified in AURA 2017 relating to antimicrobial use, appropriateness of prescribing and antibiotic resistance:
- more than 30 million antimicrobial prescriptions were dispensed through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme/Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme in 2015 and there has been little change in this number since 2008
- more than 60% of patients with respiratory tract infections were prescribed an antimicrobial, but antimicrobials are usually not recommended for these conditions
- compared with 2014, there were increases in rates of fluoroquinolone resistance in Escherichia coli from blood cultures (+2.5%) and Shigella sonnei (+10.9%)
- based on 673 results submitted to the National Alert System for Critical Antimicrobial Resistances (CARAlert) between March and December 2016, carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae was the most frequently recorded critical antimicrobial resistance (48%).
The second AURA report provides a greater breadth and diversity of critical information needed by clinicians, policymakers, researchers and health system managers to inform antimicrobial stewardship and AMR policy and program development. It also highlights areas where future work will inform action to improve the use of antimicrobials and prevent the spread of AMR.
Antimicrobial Use and Resistance in Australia (AURA) 2017 report
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