Switch to Dark theme

References

World Health Organization. World Antimicrobial Awareness Week 2021 – spread awareness, stop resistance. 2021. http://www.who.int/news/item/26-08-2021-world-antimicrobial-awareness-week-2021-spread-awareness-stop-resistance (accessed October 2021)
Antibiotic prescription by dentists linked to serious infection. 2017. https://tinyurl.com/34cuck2c (accessed October 2021)
The ‘fatal warning’ antibiotics don't have. Why you should always ‘complete the course’. 2015. https://infectioncontrol.tips/2015/11/14/the-fatal-warning-antibiotics-dont-have/ (accessed October 2021)
Vanessa Carter: 3 years of surviving a drug-resistant infection made me want to create change. 2021. https://tinyurl.com/4p87rp62 (accessed October 2021)
World Health Organization. Antimicrobial resistance. 2021. http://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/antimicrobial-resistance (accessed October 2021)
World Bank. Drug-resistant infections. A threat to our economic future. Final report. 2017. https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/323311493396993758/pdf/final-report.pdf (accessed October 2021)
UNDP. What are the sustainable development goals?. 2015. https://www.undp.org/sustainable-development-goals (accessed October 2021)
Costelloe C, Metcalfe C, Lovering A Effect of antibiotic prescribing in primary care on antimicrobial resistance in individual patients: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ. 2010; 340 https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.c2096
Thornhill MH, Dayer MJ, Prendergast B Incidence and nature of adverse reactions to antibiotics used as endocarditis prophylaxis. J Antimicrob Chemother. 2015; 70:2382-2388 https://doi.org/10.1093/jac/dkv115
Bye M, Whitten T, Holzbauer S. Antibiotic prescribing for dental procedures in community-associated Clostridium difficile cases, Minnesota, 2009–2015. Open Forum Infectious Diseases. 2017; 4 https://doi.org/10.1093/ofid/ofx162.001
Thompson W, Teoh L, Hubbard CC Patterns of dental antibiotic prescribing in 2017: Australia, England, United States, and British Columbia (Canada). Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2021; 1-8 https://doi.org/10.1017/ice.2021.87
Krishna MT, Huissoon AP, Li M Enhancing antibiotic stewardship by tackling ‘spurious’ penicillin allergy. Clin Exp Allergy. 2017; 47:1362-1373 https://doi.org/10.1111/cea.13044
Cope AL, Francis NA, Wood F, Chestnutt IG. Antibiotic prescribing in UK general dental practice: a cross-sectional study. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2016; 44:145-153 https://doi.org/10.1111/cdoe.12199
Shah S, Wordley V, Thompson W. How did COVID-19 impact on dental antibiotic prescribing across England?. Br Dent J. 2020; 229:601-604
Public Health England. English surveillance programme for antimicrobial utilisation and resistance (ESPAUR) report. 2020. http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/english-surveillance-programme-antimicrobial-utilisation-and-resistance-espaur-report (accessed October 2021)
Public Health England. Dental antimicrobial stewardship: toolkit. 2020. http://www.gov.uk/guidance/dental-antimicrobial-stewardship-toolkit (accessed October 2021)
From the Dentist's Chair’. https://theatreofdebate.co.uk/project/from-the-dentists-chair-preview/ (accessed October 2021)
The essential role of the dental team in reducing antibiotic resistance. 2020. https://www.fdiworlddental.org/resource/fdi-white-paper-essential-role-dental-team-reducing-antibiotic-resistance (accessed October 2021)
FDI World Dental Federation, British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. Tackling antibiotic resistance: what should dental teams do?. 2021. https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/tackling-antibiotic-resistance-dentists (accessed October 2021)
Public Health England. Become an antibiotic guardian. 2014. https://antibioticguardian.com (accessed October 2021)

Spread awareness. Stop resistance

From Volume 48, Issue 10, November 2021 | Pages 811-814

Authors

Wendy Thompson

BSc, BDS, PhD, MCGDent, NIHR

Clinical Lecturer, Division of Dentistry, University of Manchester; GDP, IDH Group, Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria

Articles by Wendy Thompson

Email Wendy Thompson

Article

It's Friday and it's quarter to five. An emergency patient has been squeezed in. Reception has wedged them into the rammed list of the dentist least likely to complain. Despite being exceptionally busy, the associate, Dr Gracy Curette, keeps her counsel and agrees to see the patient. How often does this scenario happen in practices across the UK? Does it happen in yours? What follows is a series of stories about patients who were harmed by taking antibiotics. The aim is to spread awareness about the risks of antibiotics to keep patients safe. But aren't antibiotics one of the safest drugs we can prescribe? Well, increasingly the answer is ‘No’. And it's about more than just resistance.

World Antimicrobial Awareness Week takes place 18–24 November each year. In 2021, the theme is ‘Spread Awareness. Stop Resistance’.1 As you read this editorial, I hope that you find something new. From readers who are experienced at delivering antimicrobial stewardship to those relatively new to it, I trust you'll find something different and interesting.

Register now to continue reading

Thank you for visiting Dental Update and reading some of our resources. To read more, please register today. You’ll enjoy the following great benefits:

What's included

  • Up to 2 free articles per month
  • New content available

Already have an account? Sign in here