Source: U.S. News
Antibiotic resistance, a growing public health concern, is being worsened by the overuse of antibiotics in pets, researchers report. Many of the same antibiotics used in human medicine—like Clavamox for pets and Augmentin for people—are prescribed to dogs and cats in similar doses and for similar conditions. However, Veterinary medicine lacks the robust antimicrobial stewardship seen in human healthcare. While human hospitals must maintain such programs to receive federal funding, only half of U.S. Veterinary schools have stewardship committees, and most cite staffing shortages as a barrier.
Although 80% of schools teach students about responsible antibiotic use, far fewer train faculty or support staff. Vets are increasingly encountering resistant infections, such as drug-resistant UTIs in dogs. Encouragingly, Veterinary medicine is starting to adopt shorter antibiotic courses and reduce unnecessary prescriptions, such as for surgery or acute diarrhea, drawing lessons from human healthcare to help curb resistance.