There is a joint FAO/WHO/OIE expert meeting on the
17-21st November on critically important antimicrobials and their use in humans
and animals - what will they do when these two lists overlap?
In my
weblog 10th September, I highlighted that antimicrobial use in man and in
animals are generally 'poles apart', which to my mind is a good thing as it
reduces the chances of the transference of antimicrobially resistant bacteria to
humans, mainly by contaminated meat, and thereby does not jeopardise the use and
efficacy of antimicrobials in man.
Capable
From the MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) stories in hospitals that abound in the UK, the medics are quite capable of causing their own antimicrobial resistance problems.
From the MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) stories in hospitals that abound in the UK, the medics are quite capable of causing their own antimicrobial resistance problems.
However, there is an overlap of 'critically
important antimicrobials' and lists have been drawn up by the World Health Organization (WHO) and now the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE)
to compare them.
The US Food and Drug
Administration
(FDA) has their own list as well, which is significant as they have recently
banned the use of fluoroquinolones in poultry and they are not used in pigs
either. They also do not permit the use of trimethoprim in pigs.
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The experts will examine the overlaps and identify the current and potential
hazards to public health. They plan to identify the combination of
human-pathogen-antimicrobial use and animal species and prioritise which
combination should be submitted to further risk-benefit assessment.
Further
restrictions
This, potentially, could lead to further restrictions on antimicrobials and the withdrawal of certain key products from veterinary medicine and pig medicine in particular, as they plan to review current management strategies and options for maintaining the efficacy of critically important antimicrobial for humans and animals.
This, potentially, could lead to further restrictions on antimicrobials and the withdrawal of certain key products from veterinary medicine and pig medicine in particular, as they plan to review current management strategies and options for maintaining the efficacy of critically important antimicrobial for humans and animals.
In Europe, we are fortunate that
when antimicrobial products are licensed a risk/benefit assessment is made,
which includes resistance development. Providing we continue to use
antimicrobials in a responsible and prudent way, there should not be a need for
any further restrictions to be introduced.
