A FUTURE where simple infections are life threatening and surgery is deemed too high-risk is a very real one as antibiotic resistance continues to grow.
NPS Medicine Wise chief executive officer Dr Lynn Weekes said Australians needed to understand that antibiotic resistance was a significant and very real threat to personal health.
"As more antibiotics become ineffective against bacterial infections, we face the prospect of returning to a pre-antibiotic era where conditions we've been able to historically treat with antibiotics become untreatable," Dr Weekes said.
Speaking during Antibiotic Awareness Week (November 17-23), Dr Weekes said examples of bacteria which had already developed resistance to a number of antibiotics included strains of E. coli that caused many urinary track infections and golden staph, a common cause of skin infections.
She said failure of the last-resort treatment for the sexually transmitted infection gonorrhoea had been reported and Australia had already experienced cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis.
"This is a serious public health issue and it requires everyone to take action," she said.
"The inappropriate use of antibiotics on an individual level contributes to bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics.
"Using antibiotics when you don't need them may mean they won't work for you when you do need them in the future."
Dr Weekes said a world without antibiotics was a very real prospect unless everyone joined the fight to prevent antibiotic resistance.
"This is not just an issue our children or grandchildren will face; antibiotic resistance is occurring in the community now and could easily affect anyone of us," she said.
"The more antibiotics are used the more chance bacteria have to become resistant to them."
The key messages to remember are:
- Antibiotic resistance is a personal threat that requires personal action.
- Antibiotic resistance is not only a major issue for hospitals, veterinarians or countries overseas. It is happening right now in Australia.
- Overuse and misuse of antibiotics is increasing the problem of antibiotic resistance.
- Don't always expect an antibiotic. They do not work for all infections.
- If you are prescribed an antibiotic, ask why it is necessary for your illness.
- When you need antibiotics take them exactly as prescribed. Never save leftovers for another time.
- Always practice good hygiene to avoid infections and spreading them to others.
NPS Medicine Wise is an independent, not-for-profit organisation that aims to improve the way health technologies, medicines and medical tests are prescribed and used.
