Affiliations: Paediatric Infectious Diseases Research Group, St
George's Univeresity of London, London, UK | PENTA Foundation, Padova, Italy
Note: [] Correspondence: Dr Stefania Vergnano, Paediatric Infectious
Diseases Research Group, St George's Univeresity of London, London, UK. Tel.:
+44 208 7255 382; Fax: +44 208 725 0716; E-mail: svergnan@sgul.ac.uk
Abstract: Data on antimicrobial resistance and prescribing in children are
sparse in spite of the high consumption in this population. In order to bridge
this gap, the Antimicrobial Resistance and Prescribing in European Children
project (ARPEC), was launched in 2010. Through ARPEC data on antimicrobial
prescribing were collected from over 200 hospitals and primary care sources,
mostly in Europe. Antimicrobial resistance patterns for a number of sentinel
pathogens were described and existing guidelines on antimicrobial prescribing
assembled. Finally an education tool to improve prescribing in paediatrics was
set up. The main legacy of ARPEC has been the fostering of successful
collaborations between paediatricians across Europe and beyond, this has
resulted into GARPEC, the global side of ARPEC, aimed not only at benchmarking
antimicrobial resistance and prescribing worldwide but also at developing
strategies to preserve antimicrobials in the face of increasing resistance.
Keywords: Antimicrobial resistance, paediatrics, antimicrobial prescribing, Europe
