Dr. Rx: How to help reduce antibiotic resistance
VCU School of Pharmacy faculty, alumni and students have provided the Dr. Rx column for Richmond’s Fifty Plus magazine since December 2009. We now share those columns on the SOP website, as well, for those who might not have seen the most recent issue.
Serving as Dr. Rx for October 2014 was Kathryn Dane, a fourth-year Pharm.D. student who received a bachelor of science degree in neuroscience and a bachelor of arts degree in kinesiology and health sciences, both at the College of William & Mary.
Dear Dr. Rx: What is antibiotic resistance, and what can I do to help prevent it?
Microbes are living organisms that multiply frequently and spread rapidly; examples are bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites. Microbes are constantly evolving, which helps them adapt to new environments. Some microbes cause disease, and others are harmless and may actually be beneficial.
Resistance to antibiotics occurs when bacteria are able to make small changes in their replication processes or structure in order to evade the antibiotics normally used to treat them. You can acquire resistant bacteria in any setting, but it is more likely to occur in hospitals and other health care facilities, such as nursing homes.
Bacteria that are resistant to multiple types of antibiotics are called “multidrug resistant” bacteria, or “superbugs.” Patients infected with multidrug resistant bacteria are at risk for poorer outcomes, including the need for more toxic and more expensive medications, increased length of hospital stay or even death.
Because of the dangers of multidrug resistant bacterial infections, it is important to understand how to become involved in reducing the spread of antibiotic resistance. If you think you have an infection of any type — bacterial, viral or fungal — talk with your health care provider. Some infections will go away without medical intervention; others will not and can become serious.
Antibiotics are effective only against infections caused by bacteria; they do not kill viruses, and therefore antibiotics should not be used for a viral infection such as a cold or the flu. The decision to use antimicrobials should be left to your health care provider. It is critical to take your antibiotics exactly as prescribed and to finish the entire course of treatment, even if you start to feel better.
Antimicrobial treatment durations are based on the type of bacteria, site of infection and antibiotic used. This is to ensure that all of the harmful bacteria causing the infection are killed and that the infection will not recur.
Do not save your antibiotic for the next time you get sick; discard leftover medicines once you have completed the prescribed course of treatment. Never share or take medicine that was prescribed for someone else.
The most important step to prevent the spread of infection is proper hygiene. This includes hand-washing and cleaning of shared items and surfaces. Washing your hands with soap and water can help reduce the risk of developing an infection while also reducing the spread to others.
Using soap to wash your hands is more effective than using water alone because the combination of the soap ingredients with manual scrubbing helps to remove germs from the skin. No added benefit has been identified in using antibacterial soap rather than conventional soap.
Although antibiotic resistance is a growing concern in the United States and abroad, the combination of patient responsibility and health-care provider diligence can reduce the spread of resistant bacteria and prevent this trend from becoming an epidemic.
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