Health Experts Are Explaining Drug-Resistant Bacteria Poorly

[damnedifIknow]

This week marks the first ever World Antibiotic Awareness Week—an effort to teach people about microbes that can withstand our most potent drugs and cause untreatable illnesses. The threat has certainly been getting a lot of media time: Headlines warn of millions of deaths, while health experts invoke an “apocalyptic” threat that’s bigger than terrorism or climate change.

But what happens when these drumbeats of doom reach the ears of listeners?

*For a start, the interviewees largely don’t know how antibiotics work or haven’t thought about it. Most don’t make a distinction between bacterial and viral infections, let alone understand that antibiotics are useless for the latter. Instead, they gauge their need for antibiotics based on the severity of their illness. If they feel really bad, if they aren’t getting better, or it over-the-counter drugs aren’t working, it’s time for a prescription.

*This makes life very hard for doctors. Patients will kick up a fuss if they are denied prescriptions, or exaggerate the nature of their symptoms to secure one. But very few of them self-identify as someone who badgers their doctors for antibiotics. They feel they know their own bodies, so they only ask for antibiotics when they genuinely need them. And a prescription reassures and vindicates them—it’s proof that they are genuinely ill, and that their disease is treatable.

Their understanding of antibiotic resistance is even worse. The researchers asked them about it and got blank faces in response. When probed—and here’s the bit that really shocked me—almost everyone assumed that it’s the person who becomes resistant to antibiotics, not the microbes."

*The fault, arguably, is on us—science journalists, scientists, doctors, communicators, and everyone else who’s beating the drum about this impending threat. We’re not doing it very well."

http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2015/11/people-are-really-confused-about-antibiotic-resistant-infections/416118/

[Buzz Clik]

1. The American public has a pretty shitty education in the sciences.

I cannot blame "health experts" for that.

[damnedifIknow]

3. I'm having dental work done

it has required multiple visits and after each session the dentist hands me a prescription for an antibiotic. I had so many antibiotic prescriptions I threw some away. I understand the need to prevent infection but I didn't need all the antibiotics.

[jeff47]

2. "Here's your prescription for this new antibiotic called Placebo-in". (nt)

[Egnever]

4. Always been a strange thing to me

I go out of my way not to take pills. Always have. Of course it is pretty damn rare I will go to a doctor because I am sick as well.

Just never understood the desire to get a prescription.

In my experience doctors usually can't do jack for the little stuff and in many cases they can't do anything for the big things either.

[TexasProgresive]

5. If you are prescribed antibiotics for a bacterial infection

and don't take the whole course you are one of the factors in bacterial antibiotic resistance. Just one but an important one.

Parents who give into their children not wanting to complete the course are another factor.

If you scream for antibiotics for a viral infection you are one of the factors.

Doctors that give in to the screamers have fault as well. They use to give antibiotic shots that were in a slow release form that was quite painful. That way the patient got the whole course in one and was not too eager to get more.

The feeding of antibiotics to increase weight gain in food stock animals is another factor.

[Warren DeMontague]

9. "Another factor"- like 95% of the problem.

I the problem of misuse of antibiotics in meat production- in large part to "fix" issues associated with factory farming, IMHO- dwarfs that of overpresribed or not-following-instructions human patients.

[Holly_Hobby]

6. An additional problem that compounds this,

but few realize, is that some of the most popular drugs started out as antibiotics, but had side effects that affected something else in the body and they were marketed for the side effects. For example, Metformin, a blood sugar lowering drug was developed as an antibiotic. Users of this drug have no idea they're taking an antibiotic.

[Dorian Gray]

7. YOu're right

I was on metformin for two years and I had no idea it was an antibiotic. Going to research now.

[Holly_Hobby]

8. Here ya go...

http://coolinginflammation.blogspot.com/2014/05/metformin-antibiotic-with-autoimmune.html

http://www.cysonline.org/article.asp?issn=2229-5186;year=2011;volume=2;issue=4;spage=219;epage=221;aulast=Dash

On edit, I forgot to add that even NSAIDs were intended to be antibiotics - like Ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, etc.) Can you imagine the scope of the bacterial resistance of those? Everyone uses them and they're available over the counter.

[Dorian Gray]

10. Thanks!

I had no idea that NSAIDs (Advil, Motrin) were also developed initially to be antibiotics, as well. Crazy!

Our gut bacteria must all be destroyed.