Which factors contribute to reduce antibiotic use and prevent antibiotic resistance?

Last changed: 10 June 2024
Farmer and Veterinarian conversation in Southern Brazil dairy farm

Unrestrained use of antibiotics increases the risk of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Our project investigates what the elements are that drive a country, veterinary clinic or a farm to reduce the use of antibiotics and prevent AMR.

Our project goal is to provide a situated understanding of antibiotic prescription decision-making. In other words, how different working realities, culture, knowledge and the type of animal itself derive different antibiotic prescription needs/practices among veterinarians and owners. For that, we will focus on contrasting species including food production animals (i.e. dairy cattle) and pets (i.e. dogs) in nations known for a low (i.e. Sweden) and high (i.e. Spain and Brazil) antibiotic use. We are thus providing the knowledge on how the veterinary profession reconciles practices in entirely different scenarios successfully — identifying roads for improving their work and with that aiding in safe warding antimicrobials for all.

A combination of four steps will be used for this purpose, including:

  1. consultations to define best practices
  2. in-depth interviews to identify current practices by stakeholders
  3. an adapted conjoint analysis to confirm findings in a broader population and
  4. a series of workshops to facilitate sharing and reflection of conclusions.

The linkage of each step will facilitate the triangulation of results, and lead to a solid understanding of the practices that lead to the reduction of antibiotic use and the implications for designing interventions in different contexts.

Investigating different country experiences will serve to generate knowledge exchange and a forum to find optimal practices for rational antibiotic use.

Facts:

Project title: Understanding antibiotic use decision making in contrasting countries and animal species - On the road to reducing antimicrobial resistance for all
Start of project - 2020-07-01
End of project - 2023-06-31
Funding body: FORMAS

SLU Co-Applicants:

Gabriela Olmos Antillon (Principal investigator)

Isabel Blanco -Penedo

Kerstin Bergvall

Ragnvi Hagman

Ulf Emanuelson

Sándor Belák

International Co-Applicants:

Henry Buller - University of Exeter, UK

Maria Jose Hötzel - Universidad Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil

Miguel Ángel Moreno Romo - Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain 

Reference group & Collaborators:

Joanna Hockenhull - Bristol University, UK

Therese Rhen – SLU

Madeleine Tråvén – SLU


Contact

Kerstin Bergvall
Lecturer at the Department of Clinical Sciences; Small Animal Unit
Telephone: 018-671304
E-mail: kerstin.bergvall@slu.se

Ragnvi Hagman
Senior Lecturer at the Department of Clinical Sciences; Small Animal Unit                                                        
Telephone: 018-672918
E-mail: ragnvi.hagman@slu.se

Ulf Emanuelson, Researcher
Department of Clinical Sciences, SLU
ulf.emanuelson@slu.se, +46(0)18-67 18 26