The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections are seen in the United States every year, resulting in about 35,000 deaths.
When you’re feeling really under the weather, an antibiotic is the fastest way to get back to feeling like yourself, right? Not always.
Don’t feel bad if you didn’t know—lots of people don’t. There’s a widespread misconception out there that antibiotics are a cure-all and a force for unshakeable health, but using antibiotics when you don’t need them could be doing, not only you but also the entire population, more harm than good.
As part of the U.S. Antibiotics Awareness Week observed every November—this year, it’s observed from Wednesday, November 18, through Tuesday, November 22—health experts strive to educate people on what we can expect antibiotics to do and what we shouldn’t expect them to do.
As defined by the National Library of Medicine, antibiotics are drugs that fight bacterial infections in people and animals by either killing the bacteria or making it harder for the bacteria to grow or multiply. Antibiotics come in various forms that can be administered orally, topically, or intravenously.
The tricky part is that bacteria are not the same as viruses, although they are both germs that can cause infections (and some bacterial infections have symptoms that are similar to those of viral infections). Common ailments that require antibiotics include ear infections, sinus infections, bronchitis, and strep throat.
However, antibiotics don’t kill viruses—so if you take antibiotics for a viral infection, the antibiotics won’t cure anything. Instead, they will attack beneficial or harmless bacteria naturally occurring in your body, which then develop antibiotic-resistant properties they can then pass on to other bacteria, sometimes even harmful bacteria. This leads to what’s known as antibiotic resistance, which the Mayo Clinic deems one of the world’s most pressing health problems.
The reason antibiotic resistance is so dangerous is that it means some standard medicines used to treat bacterial infections easily in the past are less effective or completely ineffective today. Johns Hopkins University notes that if someone develops an infection that is resistant to medicine and then passes that infection off to someone else, it becomes a contagious and hard-to-treat illness.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections are seen in the United States every year, resulting in about 35,000 deaths. Worse yet, antibiotic resistance can mean medical advancements like organ transplants or cancer therapies are harder for health experts to perform.
Instead of misusing or abusing antibiotics, people should practice what’s known as antibiotic stewardship: the proper, responsible use of antibiotics for the right conditions and at the direction of their health care providers. As the CDC states, the benefits of antibiotics when they’re really needed far exceed any risks.
People who are prescribed antibiotics should continue to take them for as long as their doctor instructs them to, even after symptoms dissipate, as some bacteria may still survive and become resistant. It’s also important that individuals prescribed antibiotics don’t save any for later or share them with others. These responsible practices go a long way in protecting the population from antibiotic-resistant infections, preserving the effectiveness or antibiotics prescribed today, and even avoiding certain side effects from antibiotic abuse.
Another important part of stewardship is to avoid the need for antibiotics altogether by limiting bacterial exposure. After all, if people don’t get infected in the first place, they don’t need to ever fight an infection. Simple health and safety habits will go a long way in this regard—wash your hands with soap and water after using the bathroom, don’t eat raw or undercooked meat or eggs, and get vaccinated against bacterial infections like diphtheria and whooping cough.
Learn more about antibiotic stewardship and recommendations from the CDC by visiting www.cdc.gov/antibiotic-use.
