Yasmina Kattou / Photo credits: Thibaut Durand / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP
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8:39 a.m., November 21, 2023
The consumption of antibiotics, which rebounded in France in 2021 after a fall at the start of the Covid pandemic, continued to recover in 2022 at a more sustained pace, particularly among children. Among 5-14 year olds, it jumped by almost 42% over one year, to the 2019 level.
“Antibiotics are not automatic.” The French know this slogan by heart, yet we are the fifth country to consume the most antibiotics. Consumption in France, which had fallen at the start of Covid, rose again in 2022 for the second year. “If the consumption of antibiotics remains generally on a downward trend since 2012, it increased in 2022 at a more sustained rate than in 2021”, according to an annual study by Public Health France (SPF) based on reimbursements of prescriptions by health insurance.
Prescriptions have exploded among children
The increase is obvious, both in prescriptions and in doses consumed in the city: +16.6% over one year in the first case, with 820 antibiotic prescriptions per 1,000 inhabitants in the year, and +14% in the second case, with 21.6 doses per 1,000 inhabitants per day. Among children, prescriptions have exploded: +51% among 5-14 year olds. After being protected from viruses and bacteria thanks to barrier gestures, last winter, many young people were contaminated by Covid-19, flu or bronchiolitis, explains Laetitia Gamboa, who is responsible for the health infection unit public France.
“Last year we saw a triple epidemic. Our hypothesis is that this triple epidemic encouraged massive consumption among children,” declared Laetita Gamboa. The doctor reminds you of the precautions to take. “Antibiotics are only effective on bacterial infections and have no effect on infections caused by a virus. You should never reuse antibiotics for yourself or your loved ones, even if the symptoms are the same,” added the manager. of the infection unit of Public Health France. To reduce antibiotic prescriptions, according to Laetitia Gombo, it is necessary to develop tests to distinguish bacterial and viral infections, as is already the case for angina.