Used properly, antibiotics can shorten illnesses caused by bacteria and even save a life when used to fight bacterial infections.
Antibiotics have greatly reduced infectious diseases, hospitalizations and deaths. Yet many children and adults are inappropriately given antibiotics for coughs, flu and colds caused by viruses, not by bacteria.
Avoid antibiotic resistance
In an interview, Professor Ramanan Laxminarayan, a noted global expert on antimicrobial resistance, said, “Antibiotics are powerful drugs, but each time we use these drugs, they are less likely to work for us in the future. And they can cause serious side effects—a risk that’s worthwhile if you have a bacterial infection, but not otherwise.”
When prescribed antibiotics, here’s what you can do to protect yourself (and your family) and combat antibiotic resistance.
- Know that for otherwise healthy adults and children, doctors are being encouraged not to prescribe antibiotics for infections caused by viruses that do not respond to antibiotic treatment. The American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases just released principles for judicious antibiotic prescribing that focus on strict diagnostic criteria, weighing the benefits and harms of antibiotic therapy, and understanding situations when antibiotics may not be indicated.
- Use good hygiene to prevent infections in the first place. For example, wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Keep cuts and scrapes clean and cover them with a bandage until healed.
- Don’t share personal items such as towels or razors that may have come in contact with infected skin – especially if you’re in close contact with others through school or sports. You can get antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA (which causes serious skin infections), this way.
- If you’ve been prescribed an antibiotic, follow prescription medicine directions, and don’t share or take medicine that was prescribed for someone else. Stopping a course of antibiotics before the end of a course makes it easier for the resistant bacteria to develop and spread.
- Pharmacists are experts in drug information, so talk with your doctor and pharmacist about how to avoid antibiotic resistance.
Be well, stay well ~
Pharmacist Andy
Andy Stergachis, Ph.D., R.Ph. is the Director of the Global Medicines Program at the University of Washington in Seattle and a subject expert on public health and pharmacy-related topics.
