Antibiotic Use in NL
Newfoundland & Labrador has the highest use of antibiotics per capita in Canada, based on federal estimates among selected pharmacies. NL and the Atlantic provinces were credited with one of the largest decreases in antibiotic use from 2017-2021. During the first year of COVID-19 in NL, the rate of antimicrobial prescriptions/1,000 residents decreased by 26% and remained low for 18 months. Starting in mid-2021, overall rates of antimicrobial prescriptions across Canada have have started to return to pre-pandemic levels. By the end of 2023, antimicrobial prescribing rates were near those in 2019.
Patients often seek antibiotics for viral infections. With time, the overuse of antibiotics can lead to the development of resistant bacteria so that even in cases in which antibiotics are appropriate, they are rendered useless.
As public health restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic were lifted (Jun 2022-May 2023), there was an increase in prescribing by 26% compared to the previous year; yet still a decrease of 14% compared to historic levels (Jun 2017-May 2018).
Prescribing appears to have leveled off with little change in the prescribing rate as of most recently (Jun 2023-May 2024).
During the period following pandemic restriction, from May 2023 to Oct 2024, the number of prescriptions amounted to 589,426; an average of 32,746/month.
October 2024 had the highest number of prescriptions per month since before the pandemic.
The annual rate of oral antibiotic prescriptions increased across all demographic groups from 2022-2023 to 2023-2024, except in those aged 65-79 and 80+ years.
Females and those aged 0-19 years had the highest prescribing rates of all groups.
The rate of oral antibiotic prescriptions was highest in Eastern Rural and Central Zones in 2022-2023.
Prescriptions by provider – should it be column chair versus ranking?
At the onset of COVID-19 (2020-2021), prescribing rates dropped for all age groups, with the lowest rates seen in males and females aged 10-14 years.
As pandemic restrictions were lifted (2022-2023), children aged 0-4 years had the highest prescribing rates; an increase of 135% and 140% from 2021-2022 in females and males, respectively.
In past years (2017-2020), ciprofloxacin made up around 10% of all antibiotic prescriptions. Lately (2021-2024), the proportion of ciprofloxacin prescriptions was 6%.
Following the pandemic, the proportion of prescriptions for doxycycline increased slightly compared to historic levels.