Doctors prescribing too many antibiotics

ACCORDING to antibiotics pharmaceutical firm, Pharma Dynamics, South African doctors are still prescribing 50% more antibiotics to patients than they should, especially when it comes to common ailments such as sore throats, bronchitis, sinus and ear infections, which dangerously heightens the risk of antibiotic resistant infections.

Not only are doctors continuing to write prescriptions for antibiotics, but they are also doing so more frequently than they did in the late 90s, when fears around antibiotic resistance first surfaced.

Last year, the Lancet (one of the world’s leading medical journals) published a peer-reviewed research paper on global antibiotic use, which points to an alarming 36% increase in worldwide antibiotic consumption between 2000 and 2010.

Antibiotic resistance usually occurs when there are lots of bacteria, with only a few that are resistant. Antibiotics then kill the bacteria causing the illness, as well as the good bacteria protecting the body from infection, making it possible for the drug-resistant bacteria to grow and take over.

Some bacteria then also give their drug-resistance to other bacteria, causing more problems.

Antibiotic resistance is one of the world’s most pressing public health problems.

Every time a person takes an antibiotic, sensitive bacteria are killed, but resistant ones may be left to grow and multiply.

Antibiotic resistance can cause significant suffering for people who have common infections that once were easily treatable with antibiotics.

When antibiotics do not work, infections often last longer, cause more severe illness, require more doctor visits or extended hospital stays, and involve expensive and toxic medications. Some resistant infections can even cause death.