Antibiotic use in community in Northern Ireland is a third higher than in England

Antibiotic use in the community varies widely across the four countries of the United Kingdom, with use in Northern Ireland more than a third greater than in England, a study has found.

Major differences were also found among European nations, with the level of use in France double that in England and Germany and almost triple that in Russia, says the report in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (doi:10.1093/jac/dkn386).

The researchers used data for 2005 from 28 …