In my short time of medical practice, I have seen the prevailing attachment that most patients have to these pills called Antibiotics.
So much so that I am tempted to ask, Is this a blessing or a curse?
Don't get me wrong, the advent of antibiotics since the days of production of Penicillin has brought more life than death to our patients.
No doubt, Antibiotics are life savers when used in the right dosage, for the right duration of time and for the right patient.
However, seeing patients who have no business using antibiotics requesting for Antibiotics when they come to the hospital is alarming.
You would commonly hear things like, " Doctor, if I don't use antibiotics, my malaria wouldn't go away"
While some patients may have coexisting infections that need antibiotic use, a good percentage are just "addicted" to antibiotics.
When I was in medical school I had the privilege of championing a course for antibiotic stewardship in my paediatric posting and that opened my eyes to the detrimental effects of not safeguarding our antibiotics.
Antibiotics are drugs that are created against microbes.
With each subsequent exposure to antibiotics especially because of unsolicited use, these microbes begin to develop resistance to the infections.
Hence, if subsequent infection occurs, the patient may not respond to the same antibiotics and may need to go higher.
The higher you go, the fewer the choices.
Hence, saving antibiotics could potentially save lives.
WHY IS THERE A RISE IN ANTIBIOTICS RESISTANCE?
•Use of Antibiotics when they are not necessary:
For example, a patient with a viral infection doesn't need antibiotics unless there is evidence of superimposed bacteria infection.
Just to digress to tie this in, I recently had a common cold which made me experience symptoms like sorethroat, repeated sneezing, and fatigue.
I must confess, I almost got into the "let's-get-an-antibiotic mode" but gratefully I decided to take a step back and rather get citrus fruits to boost my immunity before my symptoms got worse.
I'm glad I stood for what I preach. Lol.
So, when next you get a common cold, take some more fruits.
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•Use of Antibiotics in agriculture: due to the prevalent use of antibiotics among agriculturist to prevent livestock disease and promote growth, many of these resistant bacteria can spread to humans via food and water ingestion.
•Not sticking to the prescribed antibiotics course: A good percentage of patients fail to complete the dosage of their antibiotics. They would typically stop the medication once they feel better.
This gives the bacteria an opportunity to develop resistance to the drug hence making it difficult for the drug to work for them the next time they use it.
WHY DO WE NEED TO STEWARD OUR ANTIBIOTICS?
We've lost people to the cold hands of death because they developed certain life threatening infections that were not responding to any antibiotics because of resistance.
According to the World Health Organisation, It is estimated that bacterial Antimicrobial Resistance was directly responsible for 1.27 million global deaths in 2019 and contributed to 4.95 million deaths.
Source: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/antimicrobial-resistance
It is also worthy of note that Medical treatment like Surgeries, Chemotherapy and Organ transplant require the use of antibiotics to forestall post-treatment infections. Hence, with increasing rates of antibiotic resistance, such medical treatment will become more risky as the days go by.
In the words of Tom Frieden, MD, Former Director U.S. CDC, "If we use antibiotics when not needed, we may not have them when they are most needed.”
It is therefore imperative that we become stewards of Antibiotic use.
How can we do this?
As health professionals, we must say No to Indiscriminate use of antibiotics by educating our patients on antibiotic resistance.
As patients, we should ensure to follow the instructions on antibiotic dosage and use them for the right duration prescribed.
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•We should also practice good hygiene, as this significantly reduces the risk of infections.
Regular hand washing especially before meals and after being in public arenas is greatly encouraged.
•We should also stay up-to-date with vaccinations as this helps to limit the spread of infections.
•As Agriculturists, we should reduce or avoid the use of antibiotics for livestock.
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•Finally, you should become an antibiotic steward yourself by educating your friends, family and colleagues about the need to use antibiotics appropriately so as to preserve our existing drugs and protect future generations.
This post was made to commemorate this year's World Antimicrobial Resistance Awareness Week (November 18-24, 2024)
Image created by me using Canva app
Let us therefore join hands together to Educate, Advocate, and Act Now!
