Antibiotics and similar drugs, together called antimicrobial agents, have been used for the last 70 years to treat patients who have infectious diseases. Since the 1940s, these drugs have greatly reduced illness and death from these infectious diseases.
However, these drugs have been used so widely and for so long that the infectious organisms the antibiotics are designed to kill have adapted to them, making the drugs less effective.
Each year in the United States, at least 2 million people become infected with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics and at least 23,000 people die each year as a direct result of these infections.
But a new HealthDay/Harris Poll shows most Americans are clueless about the dangers, More than two-thirds of U.S. adults know “little” or “nothing” about so-called superbugs — bacterial infections that are resistant to many or all antibiotics. And around half believe, incorrectly, that antibiotics work against viruses.
That’s a concern because improper antibiotic use is considered the major driver of the superbug problem — a problem with deadly consequences.
“This poll shows that public ignorance is a huge part of the problem,” said Humphrey Taylor, chairman emeritus of The Harris Poll. “Millions of patients continue to believe that antibiotics will help them recover from colds, flu and other viral infections,” Taylor said, “and they can be upset with their doctors if they will not prescribe them.”
According to the agency, some of the most dangerous infections include: Clostridium difficile, a gut infection that often arises after someone has been on a long course of antibiotics for a different infection; and antibiotic-resistant strains of gonorrhea, pneumonia and Staphylococcus aureus — which can infect the skin, lungs or bloodstream.
In the new poll, 69 percent of Americans said they know little to nothing about the superbug problem. Meanwhile, 53 percent said that antibiotics are effective against viral infections, 40 percent said they fight the common cold, and 48 percent said they battle the flu.
Wrong on all counts.
The typical American may not be well-versed in infectious disease, but even a little knowledge can be enough, said Dr. Brad Spellberg, a spokesman for the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
“Most people have probably heard the term ‘superbug,’ and know they should be afraid of them,” said Spellberg, who is also a professor of clinical medicine at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine.
And he had some advice for what the public can do: “Don’t pressure your doctor for an antibiotic,” he said. “And when your doctor does prescribe one, ask whether it’s really necessary. We need to flip the script.”
Spellberg also pointed to a less obvious tactic. “Choose to buy antibiotic-free meat. Companies respond to what the public buys.” That’s important because in the United States, antibiotics are commonly given to food-producing animals to promote their growth. That practice, the CDC says, can cause animals to develop drug-resistant bacteria, which can then be transmitted to humans.