Following press reports that urinary tract infections may become resistant to antibiotics through the overuse of antibiotics in the farming industry, an assessment of the source of these reports has been carried out by NHS Choices.

The reports were based on a study carried out by researchers from the University of Hong Kong, and published in the Journal of Medical Microbiology. The researchers examined E. coli grown from the urine and stool samples of humans and from stool samples of various animals, and tests for gentamicin resistance were carried out. Animal and human samples that proved resistant were found to have specific genetic sequences in common, suggesting that the strains had transferred genes for resistance between each other.

The assessment made the following observations:

• This was a small study which did not look at the possible routes by which this resistance may be transmitted between animals and humans.

• This study was carried out in Hong Kong where meat consumed by the population is produced by Chinese farms. It is not clear whether the antibiotic use in Chinese farms would differ from antibiotic use in British farms.

• It is already well known that antibiotic resistance is a great public health concern, and antibiotics should be carefully prescribed by doctors and vets, and that patients prescribed antibiotics should take the whole treatment course in order to avoid the development of antibiotic resistance.