What Is Antibiotic Resistance?
Antibiotic resistance is a serious public health problem worldwide. Antibiotics are widely used drugs for the treatment of many infections, both in adults and children. But what would happen if they stopped being effective?
Next, we are going to see what resistance to antibiotics is, what this problem has to do with us and how we can act against it.
What are antibiotics and what are they used for?
Antibiotics are drugs used to treat bacterial infections. Therefore, they are not useful in cases of viral or allergic symptoms, nor in colds.In a simplified way, we can say that antibiotics act through two main mechanisms of action:
- Destruction of bacteria: bactericidal antibiotics.
- Interruption or impediment of its growth and reproduction: bacteriostatic antibiotics.
What is antibiotic resistance?
Antibiotic resistance is the ability of bacteria to mutate to prevent the action of antibiotics against them. It is a natural mechanism in these microorganisms that, however, is being accelerated and aggravated by the misuse of antimicrobials, among other factors.
When a bacterium is attacked by an antibiotic it has a natural tendency to seek strategies that allow its survival. For this reason, they generate mutations and make the drugs stop having an effect on them.
Resistance to antibiotics means that many of them are becoming ineffective. This leads to the complication of many serious infections that last over time. Doctors sometimes run out of substitute drugs to use, and the severity of conditions leaves many patients on the way to hospitals.
Some of the bacteria that cause more resistance today are, for example, the following:
- Methicillin- resistant Staphylococcus aureus .
- Enterobacteriaceae resistant to penicillins, cephalosporins and carbapenems.
- Streptococcus pneumoniae or pneumococcus resistant to penicillin and macrolides such as erythromycin.
- Macrolide-resistant Streptococcus pyogenes .
- Haemophilus influenzae resistant to penicillins.
- Fluoroquinolone resistant bacteria.
Antibiotic resistance is a crucial challenge in pediatrics as well. Many of the bacterial infections occur during childhood, and much of the use of antimicrobials occurs at this stage as well.
How can we stop this problem?
Antibiotic resistance is an issue that is influenced by many different factors. In what is closer to us, to control the increase in resistance, the proper prescription of these drugs by doctors is essential ; that is, only in the necessary cases and never when the origin of the condition is viral, among others.
Once the specialist has prescribed an antibiotic, it is up to us to use it correctly. In a practical way, we can highlight some tips that we must follow when treating with these drugs :
- Do not self-medicate.
- Do not buy antibiotics without a prescription.
- Avoid recommending these drugs to other people, even if we think they have the same symptoms as us.
- Follow the indications of the specialist who prescribes the drug regarding dosage.
- Complete therapy during the indicated days, even if symptoms disappear sooner.
- Do not keep medicine leftovers at home for future treatment; It is convenient to deposit them at the SIGRE point of the pharmacies.
Another factor in which we can get involved is prevention, as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Hygienic measures such as simple hand washing can prevent many more infections than we imagine. As these are reduced, so does the need to use antibiotics. Other measures include food hygiene or vaccination.
Antibiotic resistance is everyone’s problem
As we have said, antibiotic resistance is a major public health problem that concerns us all. For our part, we must try to use these drugs correctly, always following the doctor’s instructions. It is important not to self-medicate or make changes in the treatment dosage without consulting a specialist.
Antibiotics save lives every day by treating many serious infections in both adults and children. Let us not allow them to stop being effective, at least in what is in our power. We must all contribute to the rational use of medicines.
