Antibiotic usage in Nordic countries

The consumption of antibacterials has remained relatively stable in Scandin avia and is low compared with most other countries. Measured as 'Defined Da ily Doses' (DDD), the highest consumption is found in Iceland and Finland, and the lowest in Denmark and Norway. The consumption in Iceland, Finland a nd Sweden is about twice that in Norway. The distribution of different clas ses of antimicrobials shows striking differences. Phenoxymethyl and benzylp enicillin make up about 55% of the DDDs in Sweden and 40% of the DDDs in De nmark and Norway, whereas the narrow-spectrum penicillins represent 20% of the DDDs in Iceland. Fluoroquinolones are little used except in Sweden wher e they account for about 10% of DDDs. The use of cephalosporins ranges from 1% (in Denmark) to 15% (in Finland) and between 3 and 5% in the other coun tries. The policy that narrow-spectrum penicillins may be used when necessa ry but broad-spectrum compounds should be avoided has the positive effect t hat there is greater susceptibility in the Nordic countries to these antibi otics than elsewhere. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. on behalf of the International Society of Chemotherapy.