Report explores antimicrobial usage at Banfield hospitals

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Many urinary tract infections and respiratory tract infections in dogs are treated with an antimicrobial not concordant with guidelines from the International Society for Companion Animal Infectious Diseases.

Veterinary Emerging Topics Report coverThat was one of the key findings of the first Veterinary Emerging Topics Report from Banfield Pet Hospital and the North American Veterinary Community, focusing on antimicrobial resistance in companion animal medicine. Banfield and the NAVC released the report, “Are We Doing Our Part to Prevent Superbugs? Antimicrobial Usage Patterns Among Companion Animal Veterinarians,” on Feb. 6 at the 2017 NAVC Conference in Orlando, Florida.

According to the “Clinical Bottom Line” section of the report: “In response to the need for improved antimicrobial usage, guidelines have been developed to direct treatment of common companion animal infections. However, studies indicating low awareness of these guidelines among veterinarians suggest that poor concordance of usage patterns with guideline recommendations might be expected.”

The report explored antimicrobial usage at 926 Banfield hospitals throughout the United States in 2015, looking specifically at urinary tract infections and bacterial respiratory tract infections in dogs for which a single antimicrobial was dispensed in the hospital.

Among the findings, 44.2 percent of recurrent urinary tract infections and 67.1 percent of nonrecurrent urinary tract infections were treated with an antimicrobial concordant with ISCAID guidelines. For respiratory tract infections, 21.7 percent of bronchitis episodes and 79.6 percent of episodes of canine infectious respiratory disease complex were treated with an antimicrobial concordant with ISCAID guidelines.

The report suggests: “Voluntary adjustment of usage patterns to achieve improved concordance with guidelines may result in a better balance between patient care and public health. By proactively addressing this issue, the veterinary profession could avoid mandatory antimicrobial use restrictions that would compromise the ability to care for patients in the safest and most efficacious manner possible. Additionally, by leading in the movement to reduce pressure for antimicrobial resistance selection, veterinarians will help maintain access to and efficacy of the most important antimicrobial agents.”

Dr. Daniel Aja, Banfield chief medical officer, said in an announcement about the report: “As the world’s largest veterinary practice, Banfield is committed to working with our profession to advance pet health. Joining forces with the NAVC on the first annual VET Report enabled us to draw on our combined strengths to bring this important issue to the forefront for the veterinary profession—so that together, we can work to reduce the inappropriate use of antibiotics and ultimately be better stewards of public health.”

Tom Bohn, NAVC chief executive officer, said in the same announcement: “We are thrilled to team up with Banfield on the VET Report. This year’s topic sheds light on an important issue that doesn’t receive a lot of attention. We hope this joint effort will help generate awareness among companion animal veterinarians that they can be part of the fight against AMR.”

The full report is available here.

Related JAVMA content:

Practices encouraged to be proactive about antimicrobials (Feb. 1, 2017)