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
