Antibiotics in France and Italy: A Linguistic Analysis of Policies and Practices Compared to Danish Standards

This chapter is a comparative linguistic study that examines the annual European Antibiotic Awareness Day campaign material to prescribers and potential users in three different language societies: Denmark, France, and Italy. The study finds subtle yet distinct differences in terms of addressivity and formality: notably, the Danish campaign addresses their recipients directly and informs them informally. These observations may point to a more direct form of communication in Denmark, which could indicate a more egalitarian relationship. This relationship could be one of the reasons why Danes consume much less antibiotics and struggle much less with less antimicrobial resistance.