Widespread ignorance over antibiotics
- From: The Australian
- April 19, 2012
James Best treats Charlie
Hutchison as mother Fiona looks on at a medical centre in Summer Hill,
Sydney, yesterday Picture: Sam Mooy
Source: The Australian
NEARLY half of Australians do not realise that antibiotics kill only bacteria, according to research that suggests widespread ignorance about the drugs may be fuelling the rise of antibiotic-resistant superbugs.
Research by the National Prescribing Service to be released today shows that while more than two-thirds of Australians (69 per cent) understand that overusing antibiotics erodes their effectiveness, less than half (48 per cent) know that failing to complete the prescribed course allows resistance to spread.
Less than one-third (29 per cent) of the 1013 respondents understood that taking antibiotics to combat a viral illness also helped make bacteria more invulnerable to the drugs.
And only 38 per cent knew that taking antibiotics when they were not needed fuelled resistance.
The National Prescribing Service will use the figures to call for greater restraint by both patients and GPs, arguing that the continued spread of resistance within a couple of decades will see a sharp rise in complications and deaths from many operations now regarded as safe.
NPS chief executive Lynn Weekes said mothers with children younger than five appeared to have some of the poorest understanding of sensible antibiotic use, and improving their knowledge was a priority, given they tended to be "health gatekeepers" for the entire family.
"At a summit last year, experts said that by 2030 we will have a situation that looks more like 1830 because antibiotics won't be working against common infections," she said.
The survey shows that while most patients accepted they did not need antibiotics to treat a cold, nearly 80 per cent expected them to be prescribed.
Even when these infections were bacterial, Dr Weekes said antibiotics were not worth taking because they would shave a mere two days from a week-long illness.
James Best, a GP at the Your Doctors practice in Sydney's Summer Hill, said doctors sometimes found it hard to deny an antibiotic prescription to patients who asked for one, particularly if there was a long-standing doctor-patient relationship.
"Or there can be time pressure - it can take time to overcome inappropriate expectations, and sometimes there's a temptation to end the conversation quicker by giving in to the demands," he said.
Fiona Hutchison , whose son Charlie is almost two, said she understood the dangers of overuse and never asked for an antibiotic, but she acknowledged the reassurance a prescription could provide for worried parents.
