The HSE is marking European Antibiotic Awareness Day by appealing to the public to only use antibiotics when prescribed, and for the right duration, in a bid to avoid antibiotic resistance.
The key message being circulated today is that the more we use antibiotics, the more antibiotic-resistant bacteria we make and this means that patients who really need antibiotics are less likely to get better than they would have 10 or 20 years ago.
One of the major threats facing public health is antibiotic resistence. Modern healthcare is only possible due to these life-saving medicines; however misuse has led to new superbugs such as CPE, which Health Minister Simon Harris has called a “national public health emergency.”
Antibiotics can cause more harm than good; they should be used only as prescribed and when needed. Taking antibiotics you don’t need can make you sick and is setting back a lot of the progress that has been made in medicine over recent decades, the HSE says.
The HSE wish to remind the public of the following:
- Antibiotics don’t work for colds or flu. If you have a cold or flu, visit www.undertheweather.ie for advice on how to help yourself get better and ask your doctor for advice if you are concerned.
- Antibiotics should be taken exactly as prescribed – at the right time for the right duration.
- Always finish an antibiotic course – even if you feel a lot better. This is to ensure that all the bacteria are killed completely and that no survivors are left that could multiply and develop resistance.
Taking antibiotics when they aren’t needed means that you are taking a risk of a side effect for absolutely no benefit. Antibiotics can cause skin rash, diarrhoea, thrush or other side effects.
If you have a serious infection that really needs the antibiotic you have to risk the side effects. If you don’t need an antibiotic you take the risk with absolutely no gain and that is why doctors now prefer not to give you an antibiotic unless you really need it.
Professor Martin Cormican, Consultant Microbiologist and HSE National Lead for HCAI/AMR says: “When properly used antibiotics have been wonder drugs. In the last century they were called ‘magic bullets’ because in a very ill patient antibiotics like penicillin were literally like magic, they precisely hit a lethal target in the bacteria.
“Antibiotics changed the way we provide healthcare, improved our life expectancy rates and allowed doctors to provide a huge range of critical life-saving services to patients for decades.
“Prior to their discovery, a simple blood infection was often the cause of serious illness and death. As prescribers, it is vital that we prescribe antibiotics to maximise the likelihood of successfully treating infections, while minimising the risk of antibiotic resistance and reducing harm to our patients”.
The HSE, in partnership with pharmacists and general practitioners has a website which gives practical, common sense advice and information on dealing with many common illnesses like colds, flu, earaches, sore throats, tummy bugs and rashes.
www.undertheweather.ie provides sound advice to give us the confidence and skill we need to take care of ourselves and our families without resorting to antibiotics.
