Differences between the antibiotic prescribing pattern of newly arrived refugees in Germany and the German population

Abstract

The number of refugees arriving in Europe increased dramatically in 2015, challenging the German health system. Amongst others, the treatment of infectious diseases is an important topic in refugee healthcare. A high prevalence of multi-drug-resistant organisms has been identified among the refugee population. Still, little is known about the prescription of antibiotic medication for refugees. We conducted a descriptive analysis of all antibiotics prescribed to newly arrived refugees who were treated as outpatients between 10/01/2014 and 09/30/2015 in Erlangen, an average sized German town. The City’s invoicing documents were used to collect data on prescriptions written for refugees. Basic penicillins, aminopenicillins with beta-lactamase inhibitor and cephalosporins constituted the largest proportion of antibiotics prescribed in the adult refugee group. Of these, both aminopenicillins with beta-lactamase-inhibitor as well as basic penicillins were prescribed significantly more often compared to non-refugees. We conclude that the high percentage of prescriptions of aminopenicillins with beta-lactamase inhibitor is striking and should be further investigated.

Cross-sectional survey to describe medicine use among Syrian asylum seekers and refugees in a German federal state: looking beyond infectious diseases

“…Influenza was the only infectious disease among the ten most common causes for medication use, and amoxicillin was the only antibiotic among the 15 most commonly used medicines by adults. Amoxicillin was also found to be the most commonly prescribed antibiotic for a group of asylum seekers in the city of Erlangen, 14 and is the most commonly prescribed antibiotic for Germans with statutory health insurance. 31 The low prevalence of medicine use to treat infectious diseases is consistent with several other studies on the prevalence of diseases among Syrian refugees in Germany and other countries.…”

Disease burden in a large cohort of asylum seekers and refugees in Germany

“…Although the overall prevalence of HIV, hepatitis B and C and tuberculosis appear to be low, certain refugee subgroups are particularly affected by these diseases [ 9 , 13 - 15 ]. Thus far, few studies addressed the overall demand for medical care, or diagnoses and drug prescriptions in initial refugee reception settings [ 16 - 20 ]. To develop strategies for providing health care to migrant and refugee communities and enhancing service policies, we aim to describe patterns of diagnoses and drug prescription rates in this understudied population.…”

Antibiotikaverbrauch in der medizinischen Versorgung von Geflüchteten

“…In beiden Altersgruppen lag die Verordnung von systemisch wirksamen Antibiotika über der der deutschen Bevölkerung. Penicilline waren altersgruppenunabhängig die Antibiotikaklasse mit den meisten verordneten definierten Tagesdosen (Kahl and Kühlein 2018).…”