Survey of the Knowledge and Use of Antibiotics among Medical and Veterinary Health Professionals and Students in Portugal

Companion Animal Owners' Knowledge, Attitudes and Perceptions Regarding Antibiotic Use in Portugal

While multiple studies have focused on the motivations surrounding antibiotic prescription among veterinarians, little is known about companion animal owners' knowledge, attitude and perception (KAP) regarding the topic. A nationwide survey directed toward Portuguese dog and cat owners was conducted online and at veterinary practices to characterize their KAP regarding antibiotics. After database curation, a total of 423 valid submissions were considered. Although 97.9% of respondents stated that they knew what an antibiotic was, 23.5% and 19.2% answered that they were used to treat viral and fungal infections, respectively. Antimicrobial effectiveness was favored over cost when 87.7% of owners agreed they would prefer to spend more money to identify the appropriate antibiotic. Around 87% of respondents recognized antibiotic resistance as a significant health problem and 74.6% strongly agreed/somewhat agreed that antibiotic use in pets may contribute to resistance development. However, only 25.3% recognized that this could promote resistance dissemination, showing little awareness of the interconnection between human and animal health. Moreover, 55.6% of respondents were neutral when asked whether antibiotics used in veterinary medicine were also important for humans. These findings suggest that communication between veterinarians and pet owners can still be improved to further clarify the impact that antibiotic use has in pets from a One-Health perspective, also enabling antimicrobial stewardship interventions.

Adsorption kinetics studies of ciprofloxacin in soils derived from volcanic materials by electrochemical approaches and assessment of socio-economic impact on human health

The use of antibiotics in the livestock sector has resulted in the entry of these drugs into the soil matrix through the disposal of manure as an organic amendment. To define the fate of these drugs, it is necessary to evaluate kinetic aspects regarding transport in the soil-solution. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the adsorption kinetic parameters of Ciprofloxacin (CIPRO) in Ultisol and Andisol soil which allows obtaining main kinetic parameters (pseudo-first and pseudo-second order models) and to establish the solute transport mechanism by applying kinetic models such as the Elovich equation, Intraparticle diffusion (IPD) and, the Two-site non-equilibrium models (TSNE). The adsorption kinetics of this fluoroquinolone (FQ), on both soils derived from volcanic ashes, is developed using electrochemical techniques for their determination. The experimental amount of CIPRO adsorbed over time (Qt) data best fit with the pseudo-second order kinetic models; R² = 0.9855, Ɛ = 10.17% and R² = 0.9959, Ɛ = 10.77% for Ultisol and Andisol, respectively; and where CIPRO adsorption was considered time dependent for both soils but the lower adsorption capacity in Ultisol; with 17.6 ± 2.8 μmol g^-1; which could mean a greater risk in environmental. Subsequently, applying models to describe solute transport mechanisms showed differences in the CIPRO adsorption extent for the fast and slow phases. Adsorption isotherms were evaluated, where Ultisol occurs on heterogenous sites as multilayers and Andisol by monolayer with similar Q_max. Finally, the socio-economic impact of antibiotic usage is presented, giving the importance of antibiotics in the livestock sector and their effects on human health.

Dog Owners’ Attitude toward Veterinary Antibiotic Use and Antibiotic Resistance with a Focus on Canine Diarrhea Management

An ad hoc questionnaire was designed in order to investigate AMR knowledge amongst Italian dog owners, owner expectations concerning pharmacological treatment of canine AD, and client attitudes towards and compliance with alternative strategies to antimicrobial administration. A total of 250 questionnaires were returned. Most of respondents were female, aged 36–70 and workers. More than a half of participants owned one dog with mixed breed, with Labrador retriever, golden retriever, dachshund, and border collie being the most represented breeds. On average, each dog was treated with an oral antibiotic 1.044 times per year. Intestinal diseases were among the main reasons (19%) for antibiotic prescription. Oral antibiotic courses without veterinary consultation (21%) and anticipated termination of the therapy (17.1%) were less common than reported elsewhere. The majority of respondents knew the meaning of AMR with a significant inverse association between the level of education and the tendency to administer antimicrobials without consulting a clinician (p = 0.004). Most of the owners expected a rapid recovery of clinical signs after a first episode of AD and accepted natural dietary supplementation for treating the condition. Ninety-five percent of the respondents believed that public funding should be spent to study AMR. Even though an acceptable degree of AMR awareness emerged, we feel that further efforts should be made to increase public AMR knowledge and to stimulate proactive measures to fight the phenomenon. On the other hand, the development of guidelines for the treatment of uncomplicated canine AD would help clinicians to rationalize antimicrobial use.

Survey of the Knowledge, Attitudes and Practice towards Antibiotic Use among Prospective Antibiotic Prescribers in Serbia

The complex issue of antibacterial resistance (ABR) requires actions taken with the One Health approach, involving both human and veterinarian medicine. It can spread from animals to humans through the food chain or through direct contact. Health profession students, as the future antibiotic providers, can greatly impact antibiotic-related issues in the future. The study was conducted to evaluate knowledge, attitudes and practice of future antibiotic prescribers in relation to judicious use of antibiotics. This cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was performed on 400 students of health professions who were allowed to prescribe antibiotics of the University of Novi Sad, Serbia. Students of medicine and students of dentistry showed a significantly higher knowledge score compared to students of veterinary medicine (p = 0.001). Multivariate regression identified predictors of adequate antibiotic knowledge: being a female student (B = 0.571; p = 0.020), higher grade average (B = 1.204; p = 0.001), students of medicine (B = 0.802; p = 0.006) and dentistry (B = 0.769; p = 0.026), and students who used a complete package of antibiotics during the last infection (B = 0.974; p = 0.001) or for the period recommended by the doctor (B = 1.964; p = 0.001). Out of the total sample, self-medication was reported among 42.8% of students. The identified predictors of self-medication were: more frequent (B = 0.587; p = 0.001) and irregular (B = 0.719; p = 0.007) antibiotic use, taking antibiotics until symptoms disappeared (B = 2.142; p = 0.001) or until the bottle was finished (B = 1.010; p = 0.001) during the last infection. It seems prudent to reevaluate the educational curricula regarding antibiotic use and ABR of prospective prescribers in Serbia.

Veterinary Practitioners' Standpoints and Comprehension towards Antimicrobial Use-Are There Opportunities for Antimicrobial Stewardship Improvement?

The main subject of the research is the assessment of the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of veterinarians regarding the use of antibiotics (AMU) and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) through a questionnaire conducted among veterinarians in the northern region of Serbia. A total of 62 respondents completed the questionnaire, which represents a response rate of 44.3%. Male veterinarians are less likely to be in the group of veterinarians with insufficient knowledge (p < 0.05). Veterinarians engaged in mixed practice (small and large animals) (p < 0.001) and veterinarians who have over 100 patients per month (p < 0.005) are also less likely to be in the group with insufficient knowledge of antimicrobial resistance. The proportion of those with insufficient knowledge is growing among veterinarians whose source is the Internet (p < 0.01), while the proportion of those with insufficient knowledge about antimicrobial resistance is declining among veterinarians whose source of information is continuous education (p < 0.05). The majority of the respondents (n = 59, 95.2%) completely agreed that AMR is a very big issue in the global health sector right now. Unfortunately, there are crucial gaps in the knowledge and attitudes of the surveyed participants. They do not appear to be aware of the importance of AMU in veterinary medicine and its influence on overall AMR, or the crucial part that non-prescribed antibiotics have in all of it. Positively, many veterinarians use good practice AMU guidelines in their everyday practice and in line with the global trend of AMU reduction, respondents have also decreased their AMU compared to the previous year.