Antimicrobial use and appropriateness in the community: 2020–2021
This report provides analyses of antimicrobial use and appropriateness in the community in 2020 and 2021, with comparison to and trends from 2015.
Key findings include:
- Antimicrobial use decreased dramatically between 2019 and 2021 (25.2%), compared to 2015 and 2019 (8.9%)
- There was a 40.3% reduction in antimicrobial use between March and April 2020 coinciding with the implementation of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in Australia
- Prescribing rates for respiratory-related illnesses were not consistent with national guidelines but showed improvement in appropriateness
- Non-PBS/RPBS (private) prescriptions for antimicrobials more than doubled from 2.5% (2015) to 5.3% (2021).
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Publication year
2022
Resource type
Publication, report or update