Antimicrobial resistance

Antibiotic prescribing target hit one year early in England

The 'English surveillance programme for antimicrobial utilisation and resistance' report showed that total antibiotic consumption in England declined by 15.1% between 2017 and 2021.…

Royal Pharmaceutical Society encourages UK-wide antibiotic amnesty

The Society warns that unsafe disposal of medicines can increase the spread of resistance genes among bacteria, putting human and animal health at risk.…

Pharmacies receive nearly 500 packs of medicine during regional antibiotic amnesty

Exclusive: As part of World Antimicrobial Awareness Week in 2021, community pharmacies in the Midlands held an antibiotic amnesty and received 500 packs of medicines for safe disposal.…

Discharge of bacteria from sewage into UK rivers risks antimicrobial resistance, experts warn

The chief medical officer for England, and the chairs of Ofwat and the Environment Agency, have said water companies are not doing enough to prevent sewage and coliforms from escaping into UK rivers.…

Lack of diagnostic testing for bacterial infections is ‘alarming’, warns AMR review chair 

Lord O'Neill said progress on rapid diagnostics to reduce unnecessary use of antimicrobials was "woeful".…

First two antimicrobial drugs funded by NHS subscription payment scheme to be given to patients

The NHS England payment scheme is aimed to incentivise antimicrobial drug innovation.…

Pandemic plus? The antibiotic resistance lurking in our rivers

With evidence suggesting that UK rivers harbour antibiotic-resistant bacteria, we talk to experts about what should be done to tackle this problem…

‘Harmful’ levels of pharmaceuticals found in quarter of samples taken from world’s rivers

Unsafe concentrations of at least one active pharmaceutical ingredient were found at a quarter of 1,052 sampling sites across hundreds of rivers.…

Clostridioides difficile infection: management

A summary of the updates to National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance related to the management of Clostridioides difficile infection and the implications for pharmacy practice across primary and secondary care.…

E. coli resistance on an ‘upward trajectory’ despite targets to cut antibiotic prescribing, according to review

The 2015/2016 'Quality premium' successfully incentivised a reduction in antibiotic prescribing, but a review has revealed that the rate of Escherichia coli antibiotic resistance has continued to increase.…