Systemic antifungal drug use in Belgium-One of the biggest antifungal consumers in Europe.

BACKGROUND

Reports on the consumption of systemic antifungal drugs on a national level are scarce although of high interest to compare trends and the associated epidemiology in other countries and to assess the need for antifungal stewardship programmes.

OBJECTIVES

To estimate patterns of Belgian inpatient and outpatient antifungal use and provide reference data for other countries.

METHODS

Consumption records of antifungals were collected in Belgian hospitals between 2003 and 2016. Primary healthcare data were available for the azoles for the period 2010-2016.

RESULTS

The majority of the antifungal consumption resulted from prescriptions of fluconazole and itraconazole in the ambulatory care while hospitals were responsible for only 6.4% of the total national consumption and echinocandin use was limited. The annual average antifungal consumption in hospitals decreased significantly by nearly 25% between 2003 and 2016, due to a decrease solely in non-university hospitals. With the exception of specialised burn centres, antifungals are mostly consumed at ICUs and internal medicine wards. A significant decline was also observed in the consumption of azoles in primary health care, attributed to itraconazole. The major part of azoles was prescribed by generalists followed by dermatologists.

CONCLUSIONS

In spite of the downward trend in annual use of systemic antifungal drugs, Belgium remains one of the biggest consumers in Europe.