LONDON, April 2025 — A new report by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) highlights emerging resistance to Ceftazidime/avibactam, one of the National Health Service’s (NHS) most important antibiotics. Although resistance is low, public health officials are calling for a warning about how the drug is prescribed to retain its effectiveness.
Ceftazidime/avibactam has been used in NHS treatment since 2017 and is largely prescribed to treat serious infections in hospital settings caused by multidrug-resistant organisms. The UKHSA analysis of lab data from 2016 to 2020 found that 6.3% of bacterial samples tested were resistant to the drug. Resistance rates varied between the bacterial species tested, but they appeared to stabilize as routine resistance monitoring was implemented.
Almost 70% of NHS Trusts prescribed the medication during this timeframe. However, as a ‘Reserve’ antibiotic, it is used only in cases where other treatments have failed, or infection is particularly difficult to manage.
