Swiss antibiotics prescriptions doubled during pandemic

Antibiotics have no effect against coronavirus. © Keystone / Gaetan Bally

Doctors in Switzerland prescribed antibiotics twice as often in the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic as before.

This is shown by a new study by researchers at the University Hospital of Basel. According to the study published in the journal “Clinical Microbiology and Infection”, the use of antibiotics doubled from around eight to 16 antibiotic prescriptions per 100 consultations.  

The massive increase in prescribing practice was evident for all classes of antibiotics, including those that are not primarily intended for the treatment of respiratory infections.

This is despite the fact that antibiotics do not work against viruses such as the coronavirus, as the University of Basel emphasised.

The research team now wants to investigate whether prescribing practices changed again in the years that followed the pandemic.

In addition, in collaboration with the Swiss Centre for Antibiotic Resistance, it would like to find out how resistance develops as a result of increased antibiotic use.

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