FIGHTING ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE
I’m seeing more and more news on how antibiotic resistance has become a serious public health problem. Antibiotic resistance happens when bacteria develop the ability to withstand the drugs designed to kill them. When bacteria become resistant, antibiotics cannot fight them and the bacteria multiply.
Antibiotics are ultra-important to modern medicine. Think of penicillin, tetracycline and erythromycin and all the more recently discovered antibiotics. These drugs fight infections caused by bacteria in both humans and animals by killing the bacteria or making it difficult for the bacteria to grow and multiply.
Bacteria are single-celled organisms found both inside and outside our bodies. The number of bacteria in our body is actually greater than the number of cells—some 39 trillion to 30 trillion. (An aside; ancestors of modern bacteria were probably the first living things on earth—perhaps as long as 4.5 billion years ago.) Most of these are not harmful; in fact some are helpful including the majority in our guts. For more information on these, please refer to my post For a Healthier Gut Just Add Probiotics.
The inappropriate and overuse of antibiotics are major contributing factors to antibiotic resistance. The most common inappropriate use is for treating viral infections such as for colds, flu and most sore throats. Viruses are microbes that are even smaller than bacteria and cannot survive outside the body’s cells. They cause illness by invading healthy cells. Antibiotics do not have any effect on viruses.
Here is more information on the danger of antibiotic resistance in excerpts from the Mayo Clinic Staff article, Antibiotics: Are you misusing them?
What causes antibiotic resistance?
A bacterium resists a medication when the bacterium has changed in some way. The change either protects the bacterium from the action of the medication or neutralizes the medication.
Any bacterium that survives an antibiotic treatment can multiply and pass on its resistant properties. Also, some bacteria can transfer their medication-resistant properties to other bacteria — as if passing along a cheat sheet to help each other survive.
The fact that bacteria develop resistance to a medication is normal and expected. But the way that medications are used affects how quickly and to what extent resistance occurs.
Overuse of antibiotics
The overuse of antibiotics — especially taking antibiotics even when they’re not the appropriate treatment — promotes antibiotic resistance. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, up to one-third to one-half of antibiotic use in humans is unnecessary or inappropriate.
Antibiotics treat bacterial infections but not viral infections. For example, an antibiotic is an appropriate treatment for strep throat, which is caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes. But it’s not the right treatment for most sore throats, which are caused by viruses.
Taking an antibiotic for a viral infection:
- Won’t cure the infection
- Won’t keep other people from getting sick
- Won’t help you feel better
- May cause unnecessary and harmful side effects
- Promotes antibiotic resistance
If you take an antibiotic when you actually have a viral infection, the antibiotic attacks bacteria in your body — bacteria that are either beneficial or at least not causing disease. This misdirected treatment can then promote antibiotic-resistant properties in harmless bacteria that can be shared with other bacteria, or create an opportunity for potentially harmful bacteria to replace the harmless ones.
Consequences of antibiotic resistance
For many years, the introduction of new antibiotics outpaced the development of antibiotic resistance. In recent years, however, the pace of medication resistance has contributed to an increasing number of health care problems.
Approximately 2 million infections from antibiotic-resistant bacteria occur in the United States each year, resulting in 23,000 deaths.
Other consequences of medication-resistant infections include:
- More-serious illness
- Longer recovery
- More-frequent or longer hospitalization
- More doctor visits
- More-expensive treatment
Antibiotic stewardship
Many hospitals and medical associations have implemented new diagnostic and treatment guidelines to ensure effective treatments for bacterial infections and reduce inappropriate use of antibiotics.
The public also plays a role in antibiotic stewardship. You can help reduce the development of antibiotic resistance if you:
- Avoid pressuring your doctor to give you an antibiotic prescription. Ask your doctor for advice on how to treat symptoms.
- Practice good hygiene, to avoid bacterial infections that need antibiotic treatment.
- Reduce your risk of getting a food borne bacterial infection. Don’t drink raw milk, wash your hands, and cook foods to a safe internal temperature.
- Use antibiotics only as prescribed by your doctor. Take the prescribed daily dosage, and complete the entire course of treatment.
- Never take leftover antibiotics for a later illness. They may not be the correct antibiotic and would not be a full course of treatment.
- Never take antibiotics prescribed for another person.
It’s time to fight the growing antibiotic resistance problem. A big help would be doctors changing their prescribing habits and for patients to stop demanding antibiotics when they don’t need them.