Antibiotic Resistance Growing
May 14, 2001
Antibiotic drug resistance is growing and Stuart Levy, the president of the Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics, claims that "lack of awareness at all levels . . . has contributed to the problem." In order to fight this problem, several Federal government agencies have come together and written a comprehensive plan to stop the spread of this resistance.
Because antibiotics have been over prescribed in the past, bacteria and other organisms have found ways to ward off the drugs that were created to destroy them. This is leading to a rise in "superbugs," infections that are too powerful for antibiotics.
The new plan, which had the input of agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, will educate the public on the dangers of over using antibiotics. "People tend to think of [antibiotics] as a harmless additive, but if they treat them with respect they will think twice before demanding them or stockpiling them," commented Levy. "Surveillance of antimicrobial resistance is critical to providing early warning of emerging problems, monitoring changing patterns of resistance and targeting and evaluating prevention and control measures."
The plan calls for the use of new genetic information, in conjunction with new diagnostic tools, to discover and treat resistant microbes.
-- Article Courtesy of InjuryBoard.com
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