Report: Nearly half of the prescriptions for unnecessary antibiotics
After bacterial resistance to antibiotics has been declared a top-notch health threat, a study by the US health authorities found that 43 percent of prescriptions for patients are inappropriate and unsuitable for the type of disease they suffer from
Report: Nearly half of the prescriptions for unnecessary antibiotics
Video: An example of the mold from which the first penicline was created
As of 2016, the World Health Organization has called the bacterial resistance to antibiotics - one of the top 10 global health threats. According to reports from the Center for Disease Control and Disease Prevention (CDC), in the U.S. alone, 35,000 people die each year as a result of antibiotic-resistant infections.
A new study published in the medical journal BMJ points out one of the significant causes that creates the problem: Doctors prescribe antibiotics when not needed. In fact, up to 43 percent of U.S. antibiotic prescriptions may be "not necessary," according to the study.
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To the full articleBacteria are tiny creatures that are usually harmless and even beneficial to humans, but in some situations, species of bacteria can cause infections and diseases. Antibiotics are a group of drugs used to treat bacterial infections and it uses various mechanisms to kill or stop the growth or spread of bacteria.
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New research states - don't have to end antibiotics Don't stick: How long should you stay home after winter sickness? What is the most effective way to remove stretch marks and firm the skin? Promoted ContentStill, research shows that antibiotics are often given unnecessarily, against viral diseases like the flu and colds. And this is not just a waste of resources, but it can also contribute to the resistance of the bacteria because they get better and better at evading drugs every time they come across them.
Many times given unnecessarily. Antibiotics (Photo: shuterstock)
Antibiotics (Photo: ShutterStock)
The authors of the BMJ study analyzed data from the National Ambulatory Health Care Survey, which asks for a representative sample of American physicians to describe the medical visits they received during a specific time period. The authors reviewed data from more than 28,000 medical visits that occurred in 2015. Of those visits, approximately 130 million (13 percent) included antibiotic prescriptions and were included in the study.
The implications are already here
The findings showed that antibiotics were given during 13.2 percent of these visits. Based on reports from the medical office, researchers concluded that 57 percent of these prescriptions were appropriately written to treat conditions that are known to respond well to antibiotics. A quarter were written for explicitly inappropriate reasons, such as "treatment" of viral disease, with upper respiratory tract infections being the most common. 18 percent lacked a documented or inappropriate indication - in itself a problem that needs to be fixed, and one that makes it difficult for researchers to accurately analyze the phenomenon of abnormal prescriptions.
When examining the data in more detail, they found that 20 percent of adults aged 18-64 and 22 percent of adults 65 and older received antibiotics without a documented indication, compared to 8 percent of patients under 18.
The health community already sees the consequences of these improper prescriptions. In addition to the deaths listed in the latest CDC report, about 2.8 million Americans are infected and survive antibiotic-resistant infections each year, the agency claims.
