A study of emergency and family medicine providers in Washington state found an association between high antibiotic and high opioid prescribing rates, researchers reported today in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.

Using data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Medicare Part D (MPD) program for 2021, researchers from the Washington State Department of Health looked at outpatient prescriptions at the prescriber level for three categories of drugs (antibiotics, antipsychotics, and opioids) and provider details such as provider type, sex, and practice location. They defined high prescribing behavior as a prescribing rate greater than or equal to the 90th percentile of their specialty and used multivariate logistic regression to determine associations between high antibiotic and high opioid prescribers.

Antibiotic, opioid stewards could learn from each other

A total of 2,766 family and emergency medicine physicians prescribed both opioids and antibiotics to MPD beneficiaries in 2021. The median prescribing rate for antibiotics was 212 antibiotic claims per 1,000 beneficiaries, and the median prescribing rate for opioids was 328 opioid claims per 1,000 beneficiaries. Three hundred and eight physicians (11%) were identified as high prescribers of antibiotics, and 244 physicians (9%) were identified as high prescribers of opioids.

After adjustment for physician age and sex, the overall odds of being a high antibiotic prescriber were 2.91 times (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.10 to 4.0) greater among physicians who were also high prescribers of opioids, and the odds of being a high opioid prescriber were 2.90 times (95% CI, 2.09 to 3.09) greater among physicians who were high antibiotic prescribers. The researchers also found that the odds of being a high prescriber of both medications increased with the age of the physician.

The authors of the study say the findings suggest that high prescribing of medications is a provider behavior, and that opioid and antimicrobial stewards should collaborate on shared goals.

"Opportunities exist for stewards in both disciplines to learn from each other such as uptake of clinical decision support tools to optimize prescribing, shorter drug durations for acute conditions, optimizing discharge prescribing, and communication strategies regarding benefits and risks of drugs and contingency planning," they wrote.

A new World Health Organization (WHO) study published today identifies 17 priority pathogens for vaccine development, signifying the first global effort to gauge pathogens by regional disease burden, antimicrobial resistance risk, and socioeconomic impact.

The list includes longstanding priorities for vaccine research and development, including HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis (TB), conditions that lead to 2.5 million deaths each year. The team published its findings in eBioMedicine.

The report also spotlights pathogens such as group A Streptococcus and Klebsiella pneumoniae as disease-control priorities for all regions, pointing to the urgency of the need to develop new vaccines for pathogens that are increasingly resistant to antimicrobials. 

Targets for reducing disease burden and medical costs

In a WHO press release, Kate O'Brien, MD, who directs the group immunization, vaccines, and biologicals department, said global decisions on vaccine are usually driven only by return on investment, rather than the number of lives that could be saved in vulnerable communities.  "This study uses broad regional expertise and data to assess vaccines that would not only significantly reduce diseases that greatly impact communities today but also reduce the medical costs that families and health systems face," she said.

This study uses broad regional expertise and data to assess vaccines that would not only significantly reduce diseases that greatly impact communities today but also reduce the medical costs.

Experts identified the top 10 priority pathogens for each region, then condensed the results down into a global list, which is separated by stage of vaccine development. Several have vaccines that are in earlier stages of development or are nearing regulatory approval or policy recommendations. The group, however, identified four that require research: group A Strep, hepatitis C, HIV-1, and K peumoniae.  

The WHO said the newly released endemic priority pathogens list complements its research and development blueprint for epidemics, which identifies those that could spark future epidemics or pandemics.

Vaccination and other interventions to prevent respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection could help reduce antibiotic prescribing and help decrease antibiotic resistance, researchers from the United Kingdom reported yesterday in a preprint study.

A research team from the UK Health Security Agency (HSA), Imperial College London, and Oxford University looked at general practice antibiotic prescribing data and lab-confirmed respiratory infections from 2015 to 2018 to tease out the proportion of antibiotic prescriptions doctors were writing for RSV infections. 

They found that about 2.1% of antibiotic prescriptions over that period were connected to RSV diagnosis, with the largest number in people older than 75 and the highest prescribing rate in infants. 

Role of vaccines in curbing antibiotic use

Ceire Costelloe, PhD, a visiting professor of health informatics at Imperial College London, said in an HSA press release that the study is the first estimate of RSV-attributable primary care antibiotic prescriptions by antibiotic class using a nationally representative surveillance data. "Importantly, our study suggests that interventions to reduce the burden of RSV infections in England, such as vaccines, could complement current strategies to reduce antibiotic use nationally."

The United Kingdom launched an RSV vaccination program in September, offering the shot to seniors ages 75 to 79 and to pregnant women once they reach 28 weeks gestation. Health officials estimate that the vaccine campaign could avert 70,000 RSV infections in babies younger than 12 months and 60,000 fewer illnesses in older adults.

Hunter-harvested animals in Wyoming's Deer Hunt Areas 31 and 94 and Elk Hunt Area 126 have tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD) for the first time, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department confirmed yesterday.

Deer Hunt Area 31 is located in the Sheridan region, which is bordered by five areas positive for CWD in mule deer (29, 19, 22, 34, and 169). Deer Hunt Area 94, in the Lander region, is bordered by areas 92, 160, 97, 96, and 131, which have also had detections in mule deer. The Casper region is home to Elk Hunt Area 126, which is bordered by seven CWD-positive elk areas (3, 7, 122, 129, 113, 123, and 117).

The news release gave no information on the number of CWD-positive cervids identified in the latest detections.

"In 2023, Game and Fish personnel tested more than 5,000 CWD lymph node samples from deer and elk—primarily submitted by hunters—and continue to evaluate new recommendations for trying to manage the disease," the news release said.

Officials caution against eating meat from infected, sick cervids

CWD is a fatal neurodegenerative disease in cervids caused called by extremely resilient misfolded proteins called prions, which can be transmitted among cervids and through environmental contamination. 

In 2023, Game and Fish personnel tested more than 5,000 CWD lymph node samples from deer and elk—primarily submitted by hunters—and continue to evaluate new recommendations for trying to manage the disease.

While CWD isn't known to infect people, the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend against eating meat from an infected animal and urge taking precautions when field-dressing or butchering cervids.