ArticleBritish journal of clinical pharmacology2022
Changes in antibiotic prescribing following COVID-19 restrictions: Lessons for post-pandemic antibiotic stewardship.
Article in British journal of clinical pharmacology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 62 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on antibiotic consumption: A systematic review comparing 2019 and 2020 data.Frontiers in public health · 2022Pooled it
- Joint impact of the number of comorbidities and the COVID-19 pandemic on the concordance of antibiotic prescriptions with clinical guidelines, in the community.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Changes in the Dispensing of Antibiotics to Australian Children Between 2013 and 2023: Are We Heading in the Right Direction?Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology · 2026Observational
- Article
- Increase in Antibiotic Utilisation in Primary Care Post COVID-19 Pandemic.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Prevalence of Antibiotic Prescribing for Acute Respiratory Tract Infection in Telehealth Versus Face-to-Face Consultations: Cross-Sectional Analysis of General Practice Registrars' Clinical Practice.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Climate change and cancer care: impacts and implications for patients and healthcare professionals.Ecancermedicalscience · 2025Article
- From Routine to Crisis: The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Antibiotic Consumption in Iran.Health science reports · 2024Article
- Article
- Persistence and Variation of the Indirect Effects of COVID-19 Restrictions on the Spectrum of Notifiable Infectious Diseases in China: Analysis of National Surveillance Among Children and Adolescents From 2018 to 2021.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2024Article
- Clinical Setting Comparative Analysis of Uropathogens and Antibiotic Resistance: A Retrospective Study Spanning the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic.Open forum infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Treatment seeking and antibiotic use for urinary tract infection symptoms in the time of COVID-19 in Tanzania and Uganda.Journal of global health · 2024Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on community antibiotic consumption in the EU/European Economic Area: a changepoint analysis.The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy · 2023Article
- Leveraging the COVID-19 pandemic as a natural experiment to assess changes in antibiotic use and antibiotic-resistant E. coli carriage in semi-rural Ecuador.Scientific reports · 2023Observational
- Telehealth as a Component of One Health: a Position Paper.Yearbook of medical informatics · 2023Review
- Association of strong opioids and antibiotics prescribing with GP burnout: a retrospective cross-sectional study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2023Article
- The COVID-19 Pandemic Enhanced the Decade-Long Trend of the Decreasing Utilization of Antibiotics.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Point prevalence audit surveys of respiratory tract infection consultations and antibiotic prescribing in primary care before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland.The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy · 2023Article
- Antibiotic Utilization during COVID-19: Are We Over-Prescribing?Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Community Use of Repurposed Drugs Before and During COVID-19 Pandemic in the Netherlands: An Interrupted Time-Series Analysis.Clinical epidemiology · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
aimsPublic health responses to reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission have profoundly affected the epidemiology and management of other infections. We examined the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on antibiotic dispensing in Australia.
methodsWe used national claims data to investigate antibiotic dispensing trends from November 2015 to October 2020 and whether changes reflected reductions in primary care consultations. We used interrupted time series analysis to quantify changes in monthly antibiotic dispensing and face-to-face and telehealth GP consultations and examined changes by recipient age, pharmacy State and prescriber specialty.
resultsOver the study period, an estimated 19 921 370 people had 125 495 137 antibiotic dispensings, 71% prescribed by GPs. Following COVID-19 restrictions, we observed a sustained 36% (95% CI: 33-40%) reduction in antibiotic dispensings from April 2020. Antibiotics recommended for managing respiratory tract infections showed large reductions (range 51-69%), whereas those recommended for non-respiratory infections were unchanged. Dispensings prescribed by GPs decreased from 63.5 per 1000 population for April-October 2019 to 37.0 per 1000 for April-October 2020. Total GP consultation rates remained stable, but from April 2020, 31% of consultations were telehealth.
conclusionIn a setting with a low COVID-19 incidence, restrictions were associated with a substantial reduction in community dispensings of antibiotics primarily used to treat respiratory infections, coincident with reported reductions in respiratory viral infections. Our findings are informative for post-pandemic antimicrobial stewardship and highlight the potential to reduce inappropriate prescribing by GPs and specialists for respiratory viral infections.
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