SAMSoc And BSAVA Produce Useful Antibiotics Guidelines

In recent years, alongside wider recognition of resistant bacteria such as MRSA in our patients, the veterinary profession’s use of antibiotics has been under the spotlight as a possible factor contributing to the increasing prevalence of bacterial resistance seen in human patients. So veterinary surgeons are faced with the dual problem of treating more and more resistant bacterial infections, whilst the threat of withdrawal of the right to prescribe certain antibiotics hangs over our heads. The way we treat our patients has potential implications for human health and human healthcare. Both SAMSoc and BSAVA feel the time has come for the veterinary profession to take a coordinated responsible approach to its prescribing practices. Ian Battersby of the Small Animal Medicine Society (SAMSoc), sought to address the need for rational guidelines to antibiotic selection; using the most appropriate drugs for the correct duration, to maximise clinical efficacy but minimise selection of resistant bacteria. This resulted in collaboration with the British Small Animal Veterinary Association to produce a special issue of companion, the BSAVA membership magazine, and a set of helpful antibiotic prescribing guidelines in poster form. Ian Battersby says, “Of course these PROTECT guidelines are suggestions based on current knowledge and in the future we hope they will be further refined as our experience grows. This is an evolving situation and hopefully more work will be undertaken, in particular looking at treatment durations, allowing further refinement and optimization of practice policies. The key principles are that by implementing a prescribing protocol in our practices we are treating our prescribing privileges responsibly and maximizing the efficacy of the presently available agents for the benefit of both veterinary and human patients now and in the future. “I would like to particularly thank everyone who has helped with this project; Andrew Jagoe, Professor Ian Ramsey, Tom Maddox, Jon Camillari, Alison Woodward and Dr Tim Nutall, and BSAVA for facilitating the production of the poster”. The poster will be sent to all BSAVA and SAMSoc members and will be available in limited numbers on the BSAVA Balcony at Congress next April. BSAVA members will receive their poster and special edition of companion magazine in October.

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