In 2019, a small increase in antibiotic use in Norway was registered, but the numbers are still low, a new report shows.
The incidences of antibiotic resistance in 2019 were also low.
“Since 2012, there has been a decrease in total antibiotic use by 22%. However, in 2019, a small increase was observed compared to 2018, and we are thus at the same level as in 2017”, senior researcher Hege Salvesen Blix at the National Institute of Public Health (FHI) noted in a press release.
According to the Norm/Norm-Vet report, 84% of antibacterial agents are used outside the health institutions, and around 8% of the remainder is used in hospitals.
Furthermore, the report notes that the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria was still low in Norway in 2019.
“As was the case in previous years, methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) still makes up a very small proportion of yellow staphylococci from wound samples, and very few serious MRSA infections are detected”, chief physician Gunnar Skov Simonsen, who heads the Norwegian surveillance system for antibiotic resistance in microbes (NORM) and who has summarized the report, noted.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
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