Prescrição e uso de antimicrobianos por médicos veterinários em municípios do Rio Grande do Sul

Abstract

The issue of antimicrobial resistance is considered one of the challenges to contemporary health systems. Antimicrobials are one of the most prescribed and dispensed drug classes for therapeutic and prophylactic use. In turn, the indiscriminate use of these, in humans and animals, is considered one of the main causes of the emergence of antimicrobial resistance, in addition to the appearance of superbacteria. Thus, it is necessary to raise awareness for the prescription, use and disposal of residues of these drugs in human and animal health. This study aimed to evaluate the main forms of prescription and use of antimicrobials performed by veterinarians in municipalities in the State of Rio Grande do Sul. The study was developed through questionnaires made available to professionals through social media and, from the responses obtained, we obtained a diagnosis of how these drugs are being prescribed and used by veterinarians. A total of 126 veterinarians working in all mesoregions of the municipalities of Rio Grande do Sul participated in the survey. The results obtained show that 87.3% of the interviewees are concerned about the subject, 89.7% are aware of its importance acting in Saúde Única to prevent the advancement of the emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria, and the majority of respondents carry out the prescription and use of antimicrobials in a rational way due to the concern about the subject. However, most of the Veterinarians interviewed use the prescription of antibiotics empirically, and the main obstacles reported for the low prescription of antibiotics using antimicrobial susceptibility tests are the costs and the delay time between the result and the start of treatment of the sick animal.