Swedres-Svarm reports

The situation in Sweden regarding antibiotic resistance in bacteria from humans has been, and still is, favourable from an international perspective. One contributing factor is that our strategies to promote the responsible use of antibiotics and to limit the spread of antibiotic resistance are effective. Despite our relatively good situation, there are problems with cross infection and increasing antibiotic resistance, which calls for continued efforts in preventive work. Important examples are the recurrent outbreaks of vancomycin-resistant enterococci in hospitals, and an increasing number of health care related clusters of ESBLCARBA.

Antibiotic sales for humans continued to decrease in 2021, after a considerable reduction in 2020.

During the past decades, consumption of broadspectrum antibiotics has shifted towards narrow-spectrum antibiotics. However, this development seems to have gradually reversed in the recent years. In veterinary medicine, sales of antibiotics have decreased markedly since the mid-1980s, and in recent years sales seem to have stabilised at a comparatively low level. The occurrence of resistance among bacteria from animals has generally been stable at low or moderate levels. For some substances and in some bacteria the occurrence of resistance is even declining. One example of this is a significant decline of the occurrence of ESBL-producing Escherichia coli among broilers. There are however exceptions, and for example resistance to ampicillin, sulphonamides, and trimethoprim has increased in indicator E. coli from both broilers and pigs.

It has been discovered that there are some errors in table 1.1. in the published version of the report Swedres-Svarm 2021. Therefore, a table with correct numbers has been published on the web of the Public Health Agency of Sweden.

*One figure (3.31) in the printed report Swedres-Svarm 2018 is incorrect. The figure has been corrected in the PDF file that is accessible online.