Antibiotics are considered one of the greatest achievements of 20th-century medicine, contributing to a significant decline in illness and deaths caused by bacterial infections and diseases.
Without urgent action, however, we may return to the “pre-antibiotic era,” when even an uncomplicated infection could result in a patient’s death.
Changes in behavior must also include measures to limit the spread of infections through vaccination, handwashing, safer sex practices and proper food hygiene.
Today, the widespread availability of antibiotics makes it easier to treat bacterial diseases and helps ensure safety during medical procedures. Unfortunately, the inappropriate use and overuse of antibiotics lead to the development of antibiotic resistance. New strains of bacteria that are unaffected by known antibiotics may become a public health threat. As a result of drug resistance, antibiotics and other antimicrobial medicines become ineffective, and infections may become increasingly difficult or even impossible to cure.
Maintaining the effectiveness of antibiotics is everyone’s responsibility: medical staff, patients, parents and decision-makers who influence treatment procedures.
Proper use of antibiotics
- Use antibiotics only against bacterial infections, not viral infections such as the common cold or flu.
- Use antibiotics only when they have been prescribed by a doctor.
- Do not ask for antibiotics if your doctor says you do not need them.
- When taking antibiotics, follow your doctor’s instructions—do not shorten the treatment on your own.
- Do not share or use antibiotics left over from a previous course of treatment.
- Prevent infections by regularly washing or disinfecting your hands, preparing food hygienically, avoiding close contact with sick people, keeping vaccinations up to date and practicing safe sex.
- Choose food produced without the use of antibiotics in animal farming and prepare it hygienically for consumption (keep it clean, separate raw and cooked food, cook thoroughly, keep food at a safe temperature, and use safe water and raw ingredients).
Antibiotic resistance
It is bacteria, not people, that acquire resistance to antibiotics. The increasing prevalence of antibiotic resistance is primarily due to the excessive and/or inappropriate use of antibiotics in medicine, veterinary medicine and, in many countries, animal farming.
Without effective antibiotics, we may return to a time when there was no effective treatment for infections that occurred before the antibiotic era. Organ transplants, chemotherapy, intensive medical care and many other procedures may become much more difficult in the future. Diseases that we can effectively prevent today may once again spread through society. Not all diseases can be cured. That is why preventing antibiotic resistance is our shared responsibility.
It is also worth remembering that antibiotic resistance prolongs hospital stays, increases the risk of treatment failure and death, and raises treatment costs.
Antibiotic resistance can affect anyone, at any age and in any country.
Each of us can advocate for spreading knowledge and raising awareness of antimicrobial resistance, including bacterial resistance to antibiotics.