Fighting antimicrobial resistance in our communities
Our research is driving better use of antibiotics in GP and community care, where 80% of all antibiotics are prescribed.
Key facts
Overuse of antimicrobial drugs is making bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites resistant to them. These include antibiotics. This could make minor cuts, common infections and routine operations risky, even lethal.
Our work to prevent antibiotic overuse has contributed to national guidelines and NHS resources for GPs and patients.
Preventing overuse of antimicrobials
Overuse of antimicrobial drugs is making bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites resistant to them. These include antibiotics. This could make minor cuts, common infections and routine operations risky, even lethal.
We have led national and international trials into ways to prevent this. These include a study on probiotic drinks with ‘beneficial’ microbes for care home infections (published here).
To prevent unnecessary prescription of antibiotics, we developed and tested rules to predict if they are needed. We did this for treating a cough, sore throat and urinary tract infection (UTI).
Supporting decisions around antibiotic use
We have tested faster ways of diagnosing airway infections, UTIs and infections in chronic lung disease. This avoids the need to prescribe antibiotics as a precaution while awaiting test results.
We have also developed and tested behavioural approaches, to support decision-making. These include online communication skills training for healthcare professionals, and patient materials that help people deal with infections without antibiotics (published here).
Our data has described the value of antibiotics in skin and respiratory infections. We showed a lack of benefit in common chest infections in children routinely treated with antibiotics (published here).
National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines, which set NHS standards of care refer to our work. NHS resources supporting these also draw on our work. These include the national GP’s online antibiotic use toolkit and NHS patient information.
What do we plan to do next?
To prevent antibiotic resistance, we will further develop our BRC’s Germ Defence online tool to prevent infection. This builds on trials in respiratory infections and COVID-19.
We will test whether inhaled anti-viral medicines can prevent respiratory infections. We will also see if ‘beneficial’ bacteria can prevent sore throats.
We will seek to improve testing and aid decision-making. We will do this by trialling point-of-care tests for antibiotic prescription. We will focus on tests for care home UTIs and for throat infections.
We will seek to improve testing and aid decision-making. We will do this by trialling on-the-spot tests for antibiotic prescription, particularly for care home UTIs and for throat infections.
We also aim to develop alternative treatments to antibiotics. These include new approaches to reduce antibiotic use for acne and deep skin (cellulitis) infections. We will also explore the value of herbal treatments in common infections.
In combination with this, we will work on better ways to get new developments into the NHS.
Through these efforts we intend to safeguard life-saving treatments, and counter a major threat to all our health and lives.