Recent Report Warns That Superbugs Are Gaining on Antibiotics
BY ALLISON KOZICHAROW AND BERNICE BORN
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recent Washington Post article cited a report stating that, for the first time, researchers have found a person carrying bacteria which is resistant to antibiotics of last resort. This is an alarming development that a top U.S. public health official says could mean “the end of the road” for antibiotics.
For years doctors have been overprescribing antibiotics, especially for children, and new bacteria or “superbugs” are not only resisting antibiotics but beginning to render them ineffectual. Health professionals prescribe antibiotics to treat health issues connected to sepsis, tuberculosis, severe burns, trauma, organ transplants, cancer treatment and more.
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Tom Frieden states that improving antibiotic prescribing will save lives and slow the development and spread of antibiotic-resistant infections. He said, “The overuse of antibiotics breeds antibiotic-resistant infections that threaten patients, hospitals, and our entire health care system.”
In all of our modules where antibiotics are described as treatments, WiRED stresses that patients must follow their doctor’s instructions carefully, especially their advice to complete the course of the prescriptions and not share the pills with others. The inappropriate use of antibiotics contributes significantly to the growing ineffectiveness of these “miracle drugs.”
WiRED International will continue to monitor the disturbing trend of antibiotic resistance in its Web stories and in its Health Learning Center modules.
The Dangers of Overprescribing Antibiotics to Children
Katherine Fleming-Dutra, M.D., a pediatrician with CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, shares her thoughts in CDC’s Safe Healthcare Blog about why health care providers are still overprescribing antibiotics. She also offers advice about how clinicians can communicate better with patients about when antibiotics are needed and when they aren’t. Study the best ways to use antibiotics at www.cdc.gov/getsmart.
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