Antibiotics can and do save lives when used appropriately. Before antibiotics were available, even minor illnesses and surgeries could be fatal. However, whenever antibiotics are used, they can cause side effects and contribute to antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic resistance occurs when germs, such as bacteria and fungi, develop the ability to defeat the drugs designed to kill them. As a result, these germs continue to multiply.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ranks antibiotic resistance as one of the most urgent threats to the public’s health. More than 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections occur in the United States each year, and more than 35,000 people die as a result.
Antibiotic-resistant infections can be difficult, and sometimes impossible, to treat. New forms of resistance are constantly emerging and spreading. Antibiotic-resistant germs can quickly spread to communities, the food supply, healthcare facilities, the environment (including soil and water), and around the world.
The CDC’s Be Antibiotics Aware campaign offers these messages for patients about antibiotic resistance:
- Antibiotics can save lives. When a patient needs antibiotics, the benefits outweigh the risks of side effects and antibiotic resistance.
- Antibiotics do NOT treat viruses, like those that cause colds, flu, or COVID-19.
- Antibiotics are only needed for treating certain infections caused by bacteria, but even some bacterial infections get better without antibiotics. Antibiotics are not needed for many sinus infections and some ear infections. Antifungal drugs treat fungal infections.
- An antibiotic will not make you feel better if you have a virus. Respiratory viruses usually go away in a week or two without treatment. Ask your healthcare professional about the best way to feel better while your body fights off the virus.
- When antibiotics are not needed, they won’t help you, and the side effects could still cause harm. Side effects range from minor to very severe health problems. When you need antibiotics for a bacterial infection, the benefits usually outweigh the risk of side effects.
- Taking antibiotics can contribute to the development of antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic resistance occurs when germs like bacteria and fungi develop the ability to defeat the drugs designed to kill them. If antibiotics lose their effectiveness, then we lose the ability to treat infections, like those that lead to sepsis.
- If you need antibiotics, take them exactly as prescribed. Talk with your healthcare professional if you have any questions about your antibiotics.
- Talk with your healthcare professional if you develop any side effects, especially severe diarrhea, since that could be a Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile or C. diff) infection, which needs to be treated immediately.
- Do your best to stay healthy and keep others healthy by cleaning hands by washing with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or using a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol; covering your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze; staying home when sick; and getting recommended vaccines, such as the flu vaccine.
- Antibiotics aren’t always the answer. Everyone can help improve antibiotic prescribing and use. Improving the way healthcare professionals prescribe antibiotics, and the way we take antibiotics, helps keep us healthy now, helps fight antibiotic resistance, and ensures that these life-saving antibiotics will be available for future generations.
An antibiotic awareness social media campaign, sponsored by Alabama healthcare organizations, uses digital platforms to educate the public about antibiotic misuse. The campaign urges people to speak up and ask their healthcare provider whether their illness is caused by bacteria or a virus. Viral illnesses do not respond to antibiotics, so antibiotics should be prescribed only for bacterial illnesses.
A few clever and memorable comparisons from the campaign to discourage antibiotic misuse are as follows:
- Taking antibiotics when you don’t need them is like giving germs a training course in how to survive. The more they learn, the harder they are to kill.
- Taking antibiotics for the flu is like using bug spray to stop a bear. It just doesn’t make sense.
- Taking antibiotics when you don’t need them is like spraying weed killer all over your flower garden. You kill the good with the bad.
As we enter the cold and flu season, keep in mind that when antibiotics are not necessary, they will not help, and their side effects could still cause harm. Ask your healthcare provider about other options. Sometimes the best medicine is rest, fluids, and time. Taking antibiotics only when needed can protect yourself and your family from antibiotic resistance.
Scott Harris, M.D., M.P.H.
State Health Officer
