학술논문

Intervention with impact: Reduced isolation of methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermediusfrom dogs following the introduction of antimicrobial prescribing legislation in Germany
Document Type
Article
Source
The Veterinary Record; March 2024, Vol. 194 Issue: 7 pno-no
Subject
Language
ISSN
00424900; 20427670
Abstract
Legislation was introduced in Germany in 2018, requiring bacterial culture and antimicrobial susceptibility testing before the prescription of fluoroquinolones and third‐generation cephalosporins to dogs. We hypothesised that, following this intervention, the number of clinical samples testing positive for methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius(MRSP) would reduce. Reports of S. pseudintermediusisolated from canine clinical samples by three German veterinary diagnostic microbiology laboratories during the 38 months before the introduction of the legislation and the 46 months after were compared. Bacterial identification was performed by matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionisation time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry, and antimicrobial susceptibility testing followed recognised recommendations but with changes during the study period. Among a total of 120,571 S. pseudintermediusisolates, MRSP accounted for 7.1% overall. Following the legislative intervention, monthly submissions yielding S. pseudintermediusincreased at all three laboratories. The MRSP percentage was lower in the period after the intervention in two of the three laboratories (p< 0.001); in the third laboratory, there was no change between periods, but a year‐on‐year reduction in MRSP percentages occurred after the intervention (p= 0.0004). Changing susceptibility testing methods limited the direct comparison of resistance patterns among laboratories. The reduction in MRSP in canine clinical samples following the introduction of this legislation suggests a positive impact of compulsory laboratory testing on reducing antimicrobial resistance.