LIFESTYLE NEWS - Antibiotic resistance is rising to dangerously high levels in all parts of the world. A growing list of infections - such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, blood poisoning and gonorrhoea - are becoming harder, and sometimes impossible, to treat as antibiotics become less effective.
Antibiotics are medicines used to prevent and treat bacterial infections. Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria change in response to the use of these medicines. Bacteria, not humans, become antibiotic resistant. These bacteria may then infect humans and are harder to treat than non-resistant bacteria.
The world urgently needs to change the way we prescribe and use antibiotics. Without urgent action, we are heading for a post-antibiotic era, in which common infections and minor injuries can once again kill.
Antibiotic resistance is accelerated by the misuse and overuse of antibiotics, as well as poor infection prevention and control. Steps can be taken at all levels of society to reduce the impact and limit the spread of resistance.
• Preventing infections by regularly washing hands, practicing good food hygiene, avoiding close contact with sick people and keeping vaccinations up to date
• Only using antibiotics when prescribed by a certified health professional
• Always taking the full prescription
• Never using left-over antibiotics
• Never sharing antibiotics with others.
While there are some new antibiotics in development, none of these are expected to be effective against the most dangerous forms of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
When infections can no longer be treated by first-line antibiotics, more expensive medicines must be used. A longer duration of illness and treatment, often in hospitals, increases health care costs as well as the economic burden on families and societies.
Antibiotic resistance is putting the achievements of modern medicine at risk. Without effective antibiotics for the prevention and treatment of infections, organ transplantations, chemotherapy and surgeries such as caesarean sections become much more dangerous.
Source: World Health Organisation
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