Taking Antibiotic Resistance Seriously

from BestHealth, November 2005

Antibiotics are one of the great miracles of medicine, but they can have a dark side when overused. Overuse promotes the development of drug-resistant bacteria that can create new strains of hard-to-treat, infectious disease.

“N.C. Taking Antibiotic Resistance Seriously” (NCTars), an educational program developed by WFU Health Sciences for the N.C. Dept. of Health and Human Services, is spotlighting the hazards of antibacterial resistance.

The message: Antibiotics don’t work for colds or flu. Antibiotics kill bacteria, not viruses.

Antibiotic overuse causes bacteria to become resistant and no longer respond to treatment. These antibiotic-resistant bacteria can quickly spread to family members, schoolmates and co-workers —threatening the community with a new strain of infectious disease that is more difficult to cure and more expensive to treat.

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), antibiotic resistance is one of the world’s most pressing public health problems. North Carolinians of all ages can lower this risk by talking to their doctors and using antibiotics appropriately.