Your Health Matters
By Claudia Parks, R.N.

Antibiotics are fast becoming powerless against a horde of infectious diseases. You need to know when-and when NOT-to use them. How many of you have been guilty of "saving a few" (pills, capsules, liquid) of the last antibiotic prescription, so you can "have some handy" for the next time you feel like you are "coming down with something?!" Or you have said, "Doc give me one of those powerful penicillin shots to knock this cold out!"

Antibiotics are the most misused medicine in America. Let me give you a little scenario, and see if it sounds familiar. Your three year old is tugging at his/her ear and crying, just as they have done in previous months and the doctor diagnosed an ear infection. So to save time, money, and the hassle of another trip to the doctor's office, you give your child a dose of the remaining pink liquid antibiotic out of the refrigerator-you have enough for two days-he/she improves-now it's the fourth day and baby is worse than ever...so now it's back to the doctor.

Sorry, you have erred on two counts. First, you did not use up all the medication for the infection the month before. Then, giving your child the antibiotic without making sure it was needed compounded the problem. You may have unwittingly helped cause a drugresistant ear infection, one that requires a prescription for a different antibiotic that might be capable of wiping out the more resistant bacteria.

It's this kind of misuse that's leading to a disturbing new health crisis: The emergence of tough bacterial strains that are immune to standard drugs-known as resistant strains. Among those that have public health officials alarmed are certain types of "flesh eating" strep, and bacteria that cause ear infections, TB, pneumonia, meningitis, and blood poisoning (sepsis).

A new report by the U.S. Congress's Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) calls antibiotic resistance a major threat, stating that in the late nineties and early 21st century many diseases "are no longer treatable by antibiotics that were effective against them even a few years ago."

Many doctors see this problem increasing from month to month. It is a very scary situation. It should be a concern of every consumer, too, since half of all antibiotics prescribed in the United States today are misused or unneeded, according to Dr. Stuart Levy, director of Tufts University's Center for Adaptation Genetics and Drug Resistance, in Boston. According to Dr. Levy, doctors too often prescribe them for viral infections, which antibiotics are useless against. (Some doctors defend this practice by saying they can't justify the use of a culture & sensitivity to confirm a bacterial infection and to see which antibiotic will work the best, since the test can often cost more than the antibiotic, take several days for results or the patient's insurance will not pay.) Patients play a role, too, by pressuring doctors to give them antibiotics.

Many of you can remember the introduction of penicillin in the 40s and 30 years later its derivative, ampicillin-they were known as "wonder drugs," and became some of the most widely prescribed medications in the world. The trouble is that even the best antibiotics can't kill every single bacterium.

Adding to the crisis is a dearth of new antibiotics. Until the mid-eighties, development of new drugs had lagged for about a decade because of the mistaken impression that there were enough effective antibiotics. It is estimated that $300 million is needed to develop and bring a new pill to market. I hate to even think about how much we will pay for any new antibiotics! (We have called them "wonder drugs"-but now it's because "we wonder how we are going to pay for them!")

What can we do? If you get sick, don't self-medicate with antibiotics and don't pressure your doctor to prescribe them needlessly. For some infections, most notably strep throat and urinary tract infection, you should insist on getting a culture & sensitivity to confirm the diagnosis and determine the best antibiotic to treat the specific bacteria-discuss with your doctor.

Don't stop taking antibiotics if your symptoms let up. Complete the medicine as prescribed. Don't save leftover pills for future use. We've all got to work together on this problem-to protect our future from those "evil bugs" that we can't see!

Claudia Parks, RN, is a former doctor's office and emergency room nurse and retired as an educator from Fulton County Schools. She writes Your Health Matters as a public service; the information here is designed to help you make informed choices about your health. It is not intended as a substitute for the advice of your physician. Claudia and her husband make their home in the beautiful north Georgia Mountains, near Blairsville. Claudia can be reached at yhm@windstream. net