Get Smart about Antibiotics!!
The Flu season is here and so is the demand for antibiotics, although we very well know that antibiotics do not help with viral infections. As a parent myself, I can very well empathize with the people whose children might be experiencing fever, lethargy and aches. We, as parents, feel helpless and worried that something bad might happen to our child and so a trip to the doctor’s office and request for antibiotics seem justified. Children, it seems, receive a larger share of unwarranted antibiotics.
Dr. Glen Rothman, Banner Health makes a somewhat provocative statement about antibiotic use, proposing that it might not be necessary for patients to “complete” a course of antibiotics. Instead, it might be acceptable for patients to stop the antibiotic treatment when they feel better. While this notion is not explicitly supported by the WHO and CDC, most in the medical community do agree that less antibiotics is good medicine.
Below are the links to Dr. Rothman’s article and information material from CDC about appropriate use of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance. FLU-OUT!!
Little evidence exists to support the routine instruction to complete a course of antibiotics