|
 Ramping up its fight against antibiotic resistance with a survey of
public awareness, the United Nations health agency said 64 percent
of those asked believed wrongly that penicillin-based drugs and
other antibiotics can treat colds and flu, despite the fact such
medicines have no impact on viruses.
Around a third of people surveyed also wrongly believed they should
stop taking antibiotics when they feel better, rather than
completing the prescribed treatment course, the WHO said.
"The findings ... point to the urgent need to improve understanding
around antibiotic resistance," said Keiji Fukuda, the WHO's special
representative for antimicrobial resistance.
"One of the biggest health challenges of the 21st century will
require global behavior change by individuals and societies."
Antibiotic resistance happens when bacteria mutate and adapt to
become resistant to the antibiotics used to treat the infections
they cause. Over-use and misuse of antibiotics exacerbate the
development of drug resistant bacteria, often called superbugs.
Superbug infections -- including multi-drug-resistant forms of
tuberculosis, typhoid and gonorrhea -- kill hundreds of thousands of
people a year, and the trend is growing.
"The rise of antibiotic resistance is a global health crisis," the
WHO's director-general Margaret Chan said in a statement. "It is
reaching dangerously high levels in all parts of the world."
The WHO surveyed 10,000 people across 12 countries -- Barbados,
China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, Serbia,
South Africa, Sudan and Vietnam -- and found many worrying
misconceptions.
[to top of second column] |
Three quarters of respondents think antibiotic resistance means the
body is resistant to the drugs, for example, whereas in fact it is
the bacteria themselves that become resistant to antibiotics and
their spread causes hard-to-treat infections.
Some 66 percent believe individuals are not at risk of a
drug-resistant infection if they personally take their antibiotics
as prescribed.
And nearly half of those surveyed think drug resistance is only a
problem in people who take antibiotics often. In fact, anyone,
anywhere, of any age, can get a superbug infection.
(Reporting by Kate Kelland; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
