Appropriate Antibiotic Use

Did you know that November 12-18 was national Get Smart About Antibiotics Week? According to the CDC, the Institute of Medicine has declared antibiotic resistance a key threat to health in the United States. They propose decreasing the inappropriate use of antibiotics as the main solution (CDC, 2010).

According to the CDC website (found here) the campaign aims to reduce the rate of rise of antibiotic resistance by:

1.      promoting adherence to appropriate prescribing guidelines among providers,

2.      decreasing demand for antibiotics for viral upper respiratory infections among healthy adults and parents of young children, and

3.      increasing adherence to prescribed antibiotics for upper respiratory infections.

 

On Sunday November 18^th the Arizona Republic published an article (Painter, 2012) citing data from the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (CDDEP). (Find more information about the recent CDDEP report and related media coverage here.) The data shows that while antibiotic use is decreasing across the nation (down 17% from 1999-2010), some Southeastern states have decreased their use very little and could be posing a threat to others across the nation. According to the article, a recent Pew study indicates that 79% of adults know they can harm their own health by taking unneeded antibiotics but only 47% know they could harm others including family and community members by spreading antibiotic resistant organisms.

 

So, what influence do we as healthcare providers have in antibiotic resistance?

1.      We need to ensure that we are prescribing antibiotics only when clinically indicated,

2.      educate our patients about the appropriate use of antibiotics, and

3.      provide thorough patient education about the importance of taking antibiotics as prescribed.

 

References

Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2010). About the get smart campaign. Retrieved

from http://www.cdc.gov/getsmart/campaign-materials/about-campaign.html

Painter, K. (2012, November 18). Study tracks U.S. antibiotic use. The Arizona Republic, p. A25.