Broad-spectrum antibiotics are extremely strong, meaning that using too many could create bacteria able to resist multiple types of antibiotics instead of just one. “Those are the big guns, and with increased use of them the worry is that that’s leading to the bacteria that’s broadly resistant”, Mehrotra said.
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Researchers believe this trend is a result of doctors not being aware of proper treatment guidelines.
From 2006 up to 2012, 300 to 383 hospitals in the USA for each year contributed antibiotic data to Truven Health MarketScan Hospital Drug Database (HDD) and throughout those years, 55.1% of hospitalized patients obtained at least one dose of antibiotics during hospital visit, the study reported. Over that six-year period, more than 34 million patients were discharged from the hospitals and 55 percent of them took at least one dose of an antibiotic during their stay.
“We don’t believe the reason broad spectrum antibiotics are overused is that physicians aren’t educated”, he said. Dr. Ateev Mehrotra, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School’s department of health care policy, said via Fox News, “In the hospital, where the sickest patients are, there’s been an increase in broad-spectrum antibiotics”.
“What we’re proposing is that the strategies to address this should come from a psychological perspective”, and should target doctors who give out the most antibiotics, he said.
The ones that were prescribed more often in 2012 are typically considered last resorts if other medications don’t work, which suggests that antibiotics are already becoming ineffective for many patients.
To get doctors to prescribe fewer antibiotics, several tactics could be tried, Mehrotra said. “Because inappropriate antibiotic use increases the risk of antibiotic resistance and other adverse patient outcomes”, they write, “continued monitoring of antibiotic use is critical to future improvements in patient safety”. “This antibiotic resistance threatens the success of the Sustainable Development Goals and requires a global response”, said H.E. Peter Thompson, president of the 71st session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.
In fact, doctors are more freely prescribing the class of drugs tied most closely to antibiotic resistance, according to a new study.
The antibiotic problem around the world is a two-sided, he explained. The report said that may be due to increasing resistance to this class of drugs.
Finally, they pledged to “strengthen the regulation of antimicrobials, improving knowledge and awareness on the subject, promote best practices and encourage innovative approaches, by using alternatives to antimicrobials, new technologies diagnostics and vaccines “.
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James Baggs, Ph.D., of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, and coauthors used proprietary administrative data to estimate inpatient use of antibiotics in the United States.
