It has been a widely held belief for many years that antibiotics are a type of “cure all” used by doctors. However, due to some disturbing medical cases, doctors are becoming increasingly concerned that the same antibiotics they have been using for a number of years may start causing more medical issues than they are helping. In this article there are two real life examples of families who have experienced devastating consequences antibiotics not working as they should. The first is the story of Peggy Lillis, who tragically died because of a common antibiotic that was prescribed to her after a root canal. The antibiotic caused an imbalance of good and bad bacteria in her body. Instead of the antibiotic wiping out only the bad bacteria, it also destroyed the good bacteria letting an infection take over her body. This scenario is all too common with upwards of 250,000 cases and 14,000 deaths per year caused by the same infection. The second story is about Zachary Doubek, who was prescribed an antibiotic for knee pain. In this case the bacteria that was causing the knee pain was, unfortunately, a superbug. A superbug is a type of bacteria that …show more content…
is at risk for an outbreak of CRE and Shigella. This problem can be linked to the misuse of antibiotics by doctors and patients. As stated in the article, antibiotic misuse can happen in various ways, such as using antibiotics to treat viruses that cannot be treated with antibiotics, prematurely prescribing antibiotics when the body has the ability to heal itself if given enough time, abusing “broad spectrum” antibiotics, or prescribing the drugs just to keep patients happy, even if they do not necessarily need
The misuse and overdose of the antibiotics increase the resistance problem. It can cause these bacteria to
Antibiotics have always been one of the most reliable drugs in medical history, making them a saving grace for those who suffer from bacterial caused illnesses. Although many types of drugs are used to cure diseases, are antibiotics actually capable of completely “curing” a patient? Many people find antibiotics to be a reliable source when it comes to fighting of an infection, however, when someone either overuses or misuses the prescription of antibiotics, harsh side effects may occur. One of the main problems that comes with the abuse of antibiotics being the resistance of them for future use. This becomes a major problem when further down the road a severe illness is accumulated by someone, but cannot be treated due to the resistance.
(KArch) We as human-hosts are not just helpless victims, our continuous reliance on antibiotics treatment helps contribute to the ever growing problem. The increased and inappropriate use of antibiotic therapy is the main cause of these antibiotic resistant bacteria. Patient this day and age are often prescribed pills for every condition. Patients come into doctors’ offices demanding antibiotics and healthcare providers are filling these orders. This in turn contributed to this growing chain of antimicrobial resistance.
Antibiotic resistance is becoming a more prevalent issue. This is a growing dilemma because, not only do patients have the potential to develop resistance, but they also can transmit the resistant bacteria to others (McKellar, 2014). Additionally, it is estimated that over one-third of all antibiotics prescribed to patients are unnecessary (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016). Overutilization of antibiotics is a growing problem due to some patients’ inappropriate demands for antibiotics or misdiagnoses by prescribers, however, underutilization of antibiotics can be just as problematic. Physicians are trained to use good antimicrobial stewardship when prescribing antibiotics; only giving them to patients who truly do have a bacterial infection. This becomes an issue when providers are too cautious and do not prescribe antibiotics in an attempt not to contribute to antibiotic resistance. Unfortunately, this caution could have a detrimental effect on the health of patients who actually need the antibiotics. To combat this issue, we must find a balance between good antimicrobial stewardship to minimize resistance while also taking underutilization into consideration. We, as pharmacists, are at a unique position between the physician and
Antibiotics, composed of microorganisms such as streptomycin and penicillin, kill other infectious microorganisms in the human body. At one point, antibiotics were considered to have “basically wiped out infection in the United States”, but due to their overuse and evolutionary
A huge advancement was made in the world of medicine when antibiotics were first invented. Suddenly, deadly diseases such as Staphylococcus could be cured. (Tan, 2014) Before antibiotic discovery in 1928, and their prescription in the late 1930’s, Streptococcus pyogenes caused 50% of post-birth deaths, and was a major cause of death in burn victims. Staphylococcus aureus killed 80% of people with infected wounds, and tuberculosis and pneumonia ran rampant within the population. Through the use of antibiotics, these diseases could be easily treated. Between 1944 and 1972, human life expectancy leaped by eight years, primarily accredited to antibiotics; and the number of people dying due to bacterial infection dramatically fell. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 1999) Therefore, antibiotics are beneficial as they are able to save lives, and treat various types of bacterial diseases. In addition they are easily administered - they may simply be taken orally, or injected. They are also cost-effective, and have few side effects. Moreover, the cost of antibiotic regulation, public ignorance of the threat, and adherence to routine are major factors preventing regulation laws to be put in place. (Krans,
The misuse of antibiotics means that bacteria that have minor resistances survive when patients do not follow their prescription regimens, and then they are able to flourish and spread this resistance to other bacteria (14). This is a result of miseducation among the public about when antibiotics should be taken. In the United States, for instance, 9% of people who take antibiotics are either taking antibiotics that they or someone they knew had leftover (15). This is a danger because taking antibiotics when they are not needed removes the body's natural flora that helps prevent infection and allows for antibiotic resistant bacteria to
In the last decade, the number of prescriptions for antibiotics has increases. Even though, antibiotics are helpful, an excess amount of antibiotics can be dangerous. Quite often antibiotics are wrongly prescribed to cure viruses when they are meant to target bacteria. Antibiotics are a type of medicine that is prone to kill microorganisms, or bacteria. By examining the PBS documentary Hunting the Nightmare Bacteria and the article “U.S. government taps GlaxoSmithKline for New Antibiotics” by Ben Hirschler as well as a few other articles can help depict the problem that is of doctors prescribing antibiotics wrongly or excessively, which can led to becoming harmful to the body.
Widespread use of antibiotics has been very controversial in the media as well in the general population. Due to these controversies, it is very misunderstood to how antibiotics work leading to many patients in the hospital setting wanting to take them when it is not necessary or refusing to take when it is necessary for their survival. Some of this controversy is due to antibiotic resistance, which has spread an alarming rate in the 21st century (Walsh, 2000). Antibiotic resistance is the result of very strong bacteria or microbes that are resistant to the antibiotic prescribed and those microbes accumulate overtime by their survival, reproduction and transfer, leading to increased levels of antibiotic resistance.
A couple times a year local and national mass media put the spotlight on problems connected to antibiotic overuse. Some people consider those problems to be real and serious, and others think that the discussed topics are nothing more than new “fashionable” subjects to talk about, distracting people from “real” problems, such as climbing gas prices or war expenses. Meanwhile, antibiotic overuse continues as a common practice among US doctors and agribusinesses for the last 20 years. The practice of antibiotic overuse has put patient’s health at risk, contributed to antibiotic resistance and increased bacterial mutation to a new, stronger level; as well as it hitting the economy with new costly expenses in health care. It is time to stop
The most common misconception of antibiotics is the drug being used against colds or flus which is a virus. While bacteria are living organisms that can be independent, virus are non-living organisms that require a host in order to survive. (Steckelberg 2011). According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where children are concerned, antibiotics are the most common cause of emergency department visits for adverse drug events. Antibiotics that are mistakenly used for viral infections will cause the infection to not be cured, infecting other people and the host will experience harmful side effects. The CDC has strongly recommended patients to not pursue antibiotics since doctors are more reluctant to prescribe antibiotics
The overuse and misuse of antibiotics contributes to antibiotic resistance, which persists as a problem because it can further result in a patient’s death. Inpatients are frequently affected by infections in hospitals and antibiotics are given to treat these patients. However, due to the overuse and misuse of antibiotics in
When a person takes an antibiotic incorrectly, it kills those that don’t have a mutation and also can kill the good bacteria that your body needs for daily activity such as digesting food. Once all the good and bad bacteria are dead, those that are left with the genetic mutation start to reproduce rapidly and eventually take over leaving you with a mass amount of bacteria that are resistant to whatever it is that normally kills them and can create a resistance.
The overuse of antibiotics has been a problem for well over a decade. This misuse leads to many nonvisible problems arising within the human population. As the use of antibiotics increases, the number of antibiotic resistant bacteria also increases. When bacteria become resistant to an antibiotic, another antibiotic must be used to try and kill it and the cycle becomes vicious. Michael Martin, Sapna Thottathil, and Thomas Newman stated that antimicrobial resistance is, “an increasingly serious threat to global public health that requires action across all government sectors and society” (2409).
Antibiotics are prescribed at more than 100 million adult ambulatory care visits annually, and 41% of these prescriptions are for respiratory conditions. However, this is not typically the best treatment and increase the chances of negative effects such as antibiotic resistance, increased cost, and adverse effects. Antibiotics are also responsible for the largest number of medication-related adverse events, implicated in 1 of every 5 visits to emergency departments for adverse drug reactions. The reasoning for this comes from determining if the respiratory infection is bacterial or viral. Antibiotics are used to treat bacterial infections and have no use.