Influence of population density on antibiotic resistance

Antibiotic consumption and population density as a measure of crowding in the community were related to the prevalence of antibiotic resistance of three cities in three different countries: St Johns in Newfoundland (Canada), Athens in Greece and Groningen in The Netherlands. Antibiotic consumption w...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy
Main Authors: Bruinsma, N, Hutchinson, JM, van den Bogaard, AE, Giamarellou, H, Degener, J, Stobberingh, EE
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2003
Subjects:
population density
antibiotic resistance
antibiotic use
E. coli
enterococci
ESCHERICHIA-COLI
ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE
FECAL SAMPLES
HEALTHY-VOLUNTEERS
HIGH PREVALENCE
NETHERLANDS
VENEZUELA
CARRIAGE
CHILDREN
Canada
Newfoundland
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/11370/ee8b7649-f319-4b2d-abfc-e2e8b033ebc5
https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/ee8b7649-f319-4b2d-abfc-e2e8b033ebc5
https://doi.org/10.1093/jac/dkg072
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Summary:Antibiotic consumption and population density as a measure of crowding in the community were related to the prevalence of antibiotic resistance of three cities in three different countries: St Johns in Newfoundland (Canada), Athens in Greece and Groningen in The Netherlands. Antibiotic consumption was expressed in DDD (defined daily dose), as DID (DDD/1000 inhabitants/day) and as DSD (DDD/km(2)). The prevalence of antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli and enterococci was determined in faecal samples of healthy volunteers. In both Newfoundland (28 DID) and Greece (29 DID) the overall consumption of antibiotics was more than three times higher compared with that of The Netherlands (9 DID). The lowest prevalence of resistant E. coli against the majority of antibiotics tested was found for the samples from Newfoundland and was significant (P <0.05) for cefazolin, oxytetracycline and trimethoprim. A poor correlation between the number of DID and the prevalence of resistance was observed [the Pearson correlation coefficient (Pcc) ranged between -0.93 and 0.87]. However, when population density was taken into consideration and antibiotic consumption was expressed in DSD, a strong correlation was observed (and Pcc ranged between 0.86 and 1.00). This study suggests that population density is an important factor in the development of antibiotic resistance and warrants special attention as a factor in resistance epidemiology.

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