Antibiotics have been a blessing.
A true blue miracle. Their use has helped save countless lives.
And their overuse is putting countless more at risk.
Bacteria and infectious microbes have been with us for millions of years. They may be the oldest organisms on Earth. And they didn't survive all that time without the ability to change, mutate and adapt.
Superbugs are becoming resistant to our antibiotic efforts. They are becoming more of a menace to our general health.
CRE is just one of the superbugs that are becoming an increasingly more virulent threat. There was a story just this morning about an outbreak at an L.A. hospital that has already killed two and exposed 200. And stories like this are occurring more and more frequently.
We must start using antibiotics more judiciously, and keep them a powerful and targeted tool in waging our war against disease. Their continued overuse keeps us all at grave risk.
We can do things on two fronts.
First, PLEASE don't resort to antibiotics every time you get the sniffles. If you are resorting to antibiotics several times a year for routine illnesses (and you do not have a seriously debilitated immune system), you may to rethink your strategy. If you go to the doctor and YOU'RE the one who brings up the Z-pack, you may need to think again.
Just one example are sinus infections. Acceding to medical opinion found on Health.com, only 2% of sinus infections are bacterial infections and warrant the use of antibiotics. And yet, I constantly hear about people who have resorted to it.
Those individuals who habitually use antibiotics, I believe find them less and less effective over time. It's not helping them prevent sickness, and it's not helping them get well any faster.
The second thing we can do is buy less meat that has been obtained from animals that receive high levels of antibiotics and steroids. This use of antibiotics simply for making the animal more of a "meat machine" is causing a great deal to develop resistance in both the animals and in us.
Grass fed beef, and antibiotic/steroid free chicken, pork, turkey and other meats are available if you look. They may cost slightly more, but some costs are worth bearing, particularly when the costs of the alternative is far greater.
Antibiotics serve a vital, life-saving purpose, and have helped transform the last one hundred years into a brighter, safer place. But their misuse is threatening all that.
Choose antibiotics, but choose them carefully and wisely. Choose them when they will do the most good.
We need them to help us for generations to come.
Thank you for this, Tom. I have been on the stump about this since the 90's when we already knew that this was a scarily growing problem that would only get worse. People so often EXPECT and even DEMAND antibiotics and especially very broad spectrum antibiotics, like the azithromycin you cited. This is harming us all, ultimately. Physicians get pressured constantly, and have for many years, to prescribe antibiotics inappropriately because people judge the need for antibiotics by the way they *feel* and this is a very misguided yardstick. And they get mad at physicians and other healthcare providers if they do not get the antibiotics they feel are justified. We should only take antibiotics when they are specifically indicated. Because a person develops a bacterial infection for which an antibiotic is specifically indicated 10 days after seeing their MD for the flu, doesn't mean that their MD screwed up and should have given them antibiotics. It means they developed an additional BACTERIAL infection in addition to the VIRAL infection they originally had. This will happen sometimes and it is only appropriate to treat it when and IF it develops. OK. off my soapbox.
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