Antibiotics: A Problem For All Of Us

     When Penicillin was first used in the 1940’s, almost every bacteria on the planet was killed by it. Now, less than a lifetime later, it is the absolute opposite – almost every bacteria on the planet is resistant to it. The more it was used, the more bacteria developed ways to survive.

     For decades, antibiotics were routinely used in raising meat and poultry. Animals that didn’t get sick grew faster and made more money for the producers. The government has finally stepped in and asked suppliers to stop this practice.

     It is up to us – doctors, patients and parents to stop the other major source of antibiotic over-usage. It is hard. When a child is sick and a mother needs to get back to work, it is human nature to want to do “as much as we can as fast as we can”. We all know that most childhood illnesses are caused by viruses and that viruses are not killed by antibiotics, but we all get into the “it might help and it can’t hurt” mentality.

     But it can hurt. We all know about the mild and severe diarrhea problems that antibiotics can cause. But now we are being asked to think globally and consider the impact on all of us caused by our over-use of antibiotics.

     Doctors are the first offenders. A study from Harvard done between the 1990’s and 2010 showed that doctors in clinics and emergency rooms gave patients with sore throats antibiotics 60% of the time even though only about 10% of sore throat is caused by bacteria. The study also found that antibiotics were prescribed in 73% of cases of bronchitis even though bronchitis is only rarely caused by bacteria.

   Dr. Reid Blackwelder, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, said that patient’s demands and doctor’s time pressures play a role. It’s often easier to prescribe an antibiotic than to take time to explain why they won’t work for some illnesses.

     New guidelines for doctors are now available for many common illnesses. As I mentioned in a previous article, even after a doctor makes the diagnosis of a sinus infection, it is advised to wait for three more days to see if it will begin to clear without treatment. Ear infections, the leading reason that children are given antibiotics, should only be diagnosed only by the appearance of the eardrum. Pulling on the ear, pain, runny nose and fever should not be used in making the diagnosis of ear infection. Doctors are encouraged to use a “wait-and-see” approach with children who are older than 6 months, not seriously ill and have no other health problems. Most ear fluid and pain goes away as the viral cold goes away and the children don’t need antibiotics.

     It is important that doctors and parents work together if we are to be successful in decreasing the overuse of antibiotics. Doctors have to take the time to explain what signs and symptoms the parents need to watch for at home if a child isn’t going to be treated. Parents need to recognize that not giving antibiotics is in everyone’s best interest. Even though they want the child to be “cured now”, they need to realize that it takes time for the body to heal itself. Finally, parents need to see that “wait and see” is not “do nothing”. They are in partnership with the doctor in a plan of careful observation of their child and they need to watch closely and report any changes in the child’s condition.