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Antibiotic Information

OVERKILL - The overuse of antibiotics

Sniffling? Sneezing? Looking for relief from that cold? Whatever else you may be taking this winter, please do all of us a favor don't reach for those antibiotics you may have saved up in the medicine cabinet. You may be doing yourself and others more harm than good.

Many dangerous bacterial infections are becoming resistant to the most powerful drugs in a health care provider's arsenal of antibiotics.

Over the years people have become accustomed to using too many antibiotics, too often hundreds of millions of doses each year. In response to the flood of antibiotics bacteria mutate and developed resistance to the drugs that once brought them to their knees. Today, antibiotic resistance is a national public-health problem that's worrying experts from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to general practitioners alike.

Bacterial resistance is a health threat you can help to prevent. Health officials say overusing antibiotics is not the only problem. People also misuse them by not taking the full course that is prescribed or by taking pills left over from a previous prescription which in fact may not even be the right choice for the current problem. This misuse gives "the bugs" a chance to develop resistance to the drugs.

Antibiotics and you

Antibiotics are among the most powerful and important medicines known. When used properly, they can save lives. Used improperly, they can actually cause harm. Antibiotics should not be used to treat viral infections.

Two main types of germsÑbacteria and virusesÑcause most infections. In fact, viruses cause most upper respiratory illness including coughs and sore throats and all colds. Bacterial infections can be cured by antibiotics, but common viral infections never are. You recover from these common viral infections when the illness has run its course. Health care providers also generally do not use antibiotics to prevent (prophylax) people from becoming more sick when they are ill with a viral illness.

New strains of bacteria have become resistant to antibiotics. These bacteria are not killed by the antibiotic. Some of these resistant bacteria can be treated with more powerful medicines, which may need to be given by vein (IV) in the hospital, and believe it or not there are a few organisms that exhibit resistance to all known antibiotics (pretty scary heh!) . The more antibiotics are prescribed, the higher the chance that you may be infected with a resistant strain of bacteria.

Each time we take antibiotics, sensitive bacteria are killed, but resistant ones may be left to grow and multiply. Repeated use and improper use of antibiotics are some of the main causes of the increase in bacterial resistance. These resistant bacteria can also be spread to others in the family and community.