DON’T TAKE ANTIBIOTICS IF YOU DON’T NEED THEM
TAKING antibiotics when you don’t need them can make you sick, it was warned yesterday.
It is also holding back progress that has been made in medicine over recent decades, experts said on the 10th annual European Antibiotic Awareness Day.
Clinicians said the more we use them, the more antibiotic-resistant bacteria we produce, making patients who really need them less likely to get better than they would have in the past.
A statement from the HSE said: “All over Europe many people who should have been sitting down to enjoy Christmas 2017 and welcome in the New Year of 2018 with their family and friends will be missing from the table because they did not survive an infection caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
“The human face of antibiotic-resistance is empty chairs where we hoped that medical advances would allow us to enjoy that familiar companionship for Patients are becoming antibiotic-resistant
another year or maybe a few more years. Antibiotic-resistance is a major threat to patient safety and to public health.”
It added antibiotics can cause skin rash, diarrhoea or other side effects.
Professor Martin Cormican – a consultant microbiologist – said: “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.”
Dr Nuala O’connor, from the Irish College of General Practitioners, added: “Antibiotics are not effective for the treatment of viruses such as head cold, flu, and chickenpox. They will not make you feel better either.
“They will not reduce a fever, they will not relieve a cough, they will not relieve pain and one in 10 will have a side effect such as nausea, stomach upset and in some cases serious illness from taking an antibiotic.”