Swedres-Svarm reports

Sweden has had a favourable situation compared to many other countries regarding antibiotic resistance in bacteria from humans for a long time, and this remains the case. One reason is that Sweden has effective strategies to promote the responsible use of antibiotics and limit the spread of antibiotic resistance.

In veterinary medicine, antibiotic sales have decreased sharply since the mid-1980s and have stabilised at a relatively low level in recent years. However, sales of aminoglycosides for group treatment have increased significantly since 2022, which is explained by an increased need for treatment of post-weaning diarrhoea in pigs following the withdrawal in 2022 of preventive veterinary medicinal products with a high content of zinc oxide.

Furthermore, the occurrence of resistance among bacteria from animals has generally been low and stable. For some substances and bacteria, the occurrence has even decreased over time. One such example is ESBL-producing Escherichia coli in broilers. However, there are exceptions; for example, the occurrence of resistance to ampicillin, sulphonamides and trimethoprim has increased in randomly selected E. coli from both broilers and slaughter pigs.