1 In 3 Prescribed Antibiotics in the US Unnecessary and Wrong

By Jenn Loro - 05 May '16 09:45AM

Almost a third of all antibiotic prescriptions in the US are totally unnecessary in a recently published report on Tuesday.

For decades, public health authorities have been issuing frantic warnings over the dangers of prescribing antibiotic meds for illnesses that do not necessarily need its such as colds, ear infections and bronchitis according to US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The dire consequences of this unmitigated practice among doctors result to a growing surge of in drug-resistant diseases known as 'superbugs', the health agency noted in a joint statement with Pew Charitable Trusts.

"Antibiotics are lifesaving drugs, and if we continue down the road of inappropriate use we'll lose the most powerful tool we have to fight life-threatening infections," remarked CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden as quoted by NBC News.

"Losing these antibiotics would undermine our ability to treat patients with deadly infections, cancer, provide organ transplants, and save victims of burns and trauma."

Thousands of death each year are linked to the inability of many antibiotic medications to treat bacteria due to their ability to develop resistance over time. The study was published in JAMA and cited that roughly 30% of outpatient treatments involving antibiotics from 2010 to 2011 may have been unwarranted despite growing concerns over drug-resistant bacteria.

According to CDC data, about 2 million people are affected with antibiotic-resistant infections which results to 23, 000 deaths every year. When bacteria and other foreign bodies develop resistance to antibiotics, they could lead to a number of complications such as allergic reactions to "superbug" infections like the intestinal bug Clostridium difficile.

Last year, the issue has been highlighted in Obama's White House National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria which seeks to reduce the unwarranted use of antibiotics in outpatient settings by 50% by 2020, CBS News reported.

"It really is going to take the entire healthcare community to tackle and solve the problem," Dr. David Hyun of the Pew Charitable Trusts, Gizmodo reported.

"Doctors, patients, professional societies that provide guidance to physicians, health system and plans that provide data and resources to assess antibiotic use, and also federal, state, and local public health agencies. Now that we have these national targets set, we can set benchmarks for how to reduce unnecessary use."