Veterinary Students’ Knowledge and Perceptions About Antimicrobial Stewardship and Biosecurity—A National Survey

Better understanding of medical students' perceptions, attitudes, and knowledge about antimicrobial prescribing practices could facilitate more effective education of these future prescribers.

Background Recently, many scientists including bacteriologists have begun to focus on social aspects of antibiotic management especially the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) among the general population regarding antibiotic use. However, relatively few works have published on the relationship between KAP and medical education. In this study, we analyze the present status of Chinese medical (MS)- and non-medical (NS) students’ KAP on the use of antibiotics, and examine the influence of Chinese medical curriculum on the appropriate usage of antibiotics among medical students. Methods In this study, 2500 students from 3 universities (including one medical university) in Northeastern China participate in the questionnaire survey on students’ knowledge, attitude and practice toward antibiotic usage. Wilcoxon rank sum test and Chi square test were used to analyze questionnaire-related discrete and categorical variables respectively, in order to assess the impact of the medical curriculum on students’ KAP towards antibiotics. Results 2088 (83.5%) respondents (MS-1236 and NS-852) were considered valid for analysis. The level of knowledge of MS on the proper use of antibiotics was significantly higher than that of NS (p < 0.0001). However, based on their responses on actual practice, MS were found to rely on antibiotics more than NS (p < 0.0001). Moreover, the knowledge and attitude of MS towards antibiotic use improved with the increase in grade with discriminate use of antibiotics concurrently escalating during the same period. Conclusions This study indicates that Chinese medical curriculum significantly improves students’ knowledge on antibiotics and raises their attention on antibiotic resistance that may result from indiscriminate use of antibiotics. The study also shows an excessive use of antibiotics especially among the more senior medical students, signifying a deficiency of antibiotics usage instruction in their curriculum. This might explain why there are frequent abuses of antibiotics in both hospital and community settings from a certain angle.

To describe MRSA infection and colonization in household pets, and transmission of MRSA between animals and humans. MRSA infection and colonization in household pets and human contacts were evaluated during investigations initiated after identification of MRSA infection or colonization of a household pet in order to determine if there had been transmission between animals and humans. All MRSA isolates were screened for Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) genes by use of polymerase chain reaction, and isolate relatedness was determined by use of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Investigations of six situations where MRSA was identified in one or more animals in a household or veterinary facility were performed. MRSA was isolated from 8 animals (5 dogs and 3 cats) with clinical infections, 1 cat that was in contact with 2 infected cats and 14/88 (16%) of household contacts or veterinary personnel. Both animal-to-human and human-to-animal transmission were suspected. An indistinguishable MRSA isolate was recovered from at least one human that was in contact with each animal case. All isolates were classified as Canadian epidemic MRSA-2, the predominant community-associated MRSA clone in humans in Canada. No isolates possessed genes encoding for the PVL. Transmission of MRSA between humans and animals, in both directions, was suspected. MRSA appears to be an emerging veterinary and zoonotic pathogen.