Table A. 3. Quantity of active ingredients of oral antimicrobials dispensed by retail pharmacies in Canada, 2000-2009
   Antimicrobial ATC Class Total active ingredients (kg)
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Roman numerals I to III indicate the ranking of antimicrobials based on importance in human medicine as outlined by the Veterinary Drugs Directorate.
NPD = No prescriptions dispensed.
I Amoxicillin and enzyme inhibitor Combinations of penicillins, including ß-lactamase inhibitors (J01CR) 7,148.28 7,295.71 7,114.06 7,492.67 7,491.56 8,414.31 7,327.38 8,021.73 8,693.64 9,226.06
Cefixime Third-generation cephalosporins (J01DD) 441.47 412.56 372.50 321.45 275.37 282.37 274.85 303.43 322.03 341.62
Ofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin, levofloxacin, moxifloxacin Fluoroquinolones (J01MA) 17,387.35 17,569.37 17,718.15 18,469.28 18,738.69 18,781.31 19,348.63 19,806.00 19,946.58 19,887.45
Vancomycin Glycopeptides (J01XA) 25.90 28.25 32.23 40.56 70.36 79.17 75.77 83.99 83.73 92.64
Metronidazole Imidazole (J01XD) NPD 4,808.34 4,927.11 5,126.54 5,237.51 5,311.07 5,563.92 5,587.82 5,791.00 6,029.97
Linezolid Linezolid (J01XX) NPD 1.55 4.91 10.82 17.29 23.26 22.44 25.34 26.11 31.40
II Ampicillin, amoxicillin, pivampicillin Penicillins with extended spectrum (J01CA) 57,566.37 56,004.37 53,404.23 53,132.75 51,471.46 53,138.73 53,534.52 53,445.93 54,514.38 56,323.55
Penicillin G, penicillin V  ß-lactamase sensitive penicillins (J01CE) 15,079.86 14,253.92 13,722.26 13,802.13 12,916.80 13,174.53 14,201.96 13,987.12 14,106.88 13,770.75
Cloxacillin ß-lactamase resistant penicillins (J01CF) 8,351.00 8,004.27 7,376.34 7,135.18 6,596.38 5,861.06 5,604.72 5,159.24 4,777.53 4,358.02
Cephalexin, cefadroxil First-generation cephalosporins (J01DB) 16,693.30 17,295.99 18,358.43 19,683.24 20,312.94 21,585.02 22,980.75 23,353.79 24,059.39 24,305.64
Cefaclor, cefprozil, cefuroxime axetil Second-generation cephalosporins (J01DC) 11,099.40 9,857.59 8,712.26 8,570.41 8,277.23 8,410.81 7,937.34 7,424.93 7,216.85 7,129.01
Sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim, sulfadiazine and trimethoprim Combinations of sulfonamides and trimethoprim, including derivatives (J01EE) 26,196.41 23,815.65 21,549.97 20,179.30 19,226.17 18,858.59 15,433.23 15,085.01 15,137.72 15,065.30
Azithromycin, clarithromycin, erythromycin Macrolides (J01FA) 25,163.98 23,844.04 21,665.44 22,138.28 21,168.11 22,746.49 22,653.74 22,523.94 22,791.17 22,912.47
Clindamycin Lincosamides (J01FF) 3,289.35 3,590.12 3,896.00 4,272.26 4,441.95 4,499.59 4,976.64 5,303.74 5,553.15 5,746.53
Tobramycin Aminoglycosides (J01GB) 29.66 0.36 0.04 < 0.01 0.01 NPD 15.03 20.21 20.16 22.91
Nalidixic acid Other quinolones, excluding fluoroquinolones (J01MB) 76.31 62.19 52.12 45.35 41.87 1.05 0.26 0.01 NPD 0.01
Erythromycin-sulfisoxazole Sulfonamide combinations, excluding trimethoprim (J01RA) 2,745.17 1,910.05 1,251.28 843.14 548.87 494.05 104.71 76.33 25.67 0.02
Fusidic acid Steroid antibacterials (J01XC) 34.79 39.06 35.54 37.27 36.64 41.91 42.73 34.22 30.08 14.26
III Doxycycline, minocycline, tetracycline Tetracyclines (J01AA) 14,112.37 13,169.24 12,595.12 11,902.77 11,050.90 10,709.61 10,280.96 9,678.89 9,419.51 9,305.23
Chloramphenicol Amphenicols (J01BA) 0.78 0.99 0.20 NPD 0.06 0.01 NPD NPD NPD NPD
Trimethoprim Trimethoprim and derivatives (J01EA) 315.71 297.29 310.34 307.34 288.32 265.98 265.88 261.01 242.58 247.57
Sulfamethizole, sulfapyridine, sulfisoxazole Short-acting sulfonamides (J01EB) 105.38 13.45 0.88 1.04 1.02 0.26 0.13 0.03 0.03 NPD
Sulfadiazine, sulfamethoxazole Intermediate-acting sulfonamides (J01EC) 28.08 4.48 4.77 5.55 4.51 2.93 2.27 2.36 1.33 0.04
Nitrofurantoin Nitrofuran derivatives (J01XE) 935.24 981.97 1,019.51 1,073.19 1,152.40 1,210.89 1,323.74 1,390.41 1,503.67 1,622.82
Fosfomycin Fosfomycin (J01XX) 64.76 74.26 48.00 35.71 26.28 20.78 17.78 11.00 1.97 5.04
NC Methenamine Methenamine (J01XX) 389.51 356.69 350.35 296.88 282.20 253.34 249.14 261.99 163.43 210.98
    Total (J01) 207,280.44 203,691.77 194,522.04 194,923.13 189,674.87 194,167.12 192,238.56 191,848.71 194,428.77 196,649.29

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