The antibiotics They are part of the family of medications antimicrobialswhich attack microorganisms such as bacteria.
The improper and excessive use of antimicrobials is the main factor that determines the appearance of pathogens drug-resistant drugs causing a large increase in health costs, as analyzed by the World Health Organization (WHO).
An example of this is that, although only 8% of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 suffered from bacterial coinfections that required antibioticsthe WHO determined that three out of four, around 75% of the patients, were administered antibiotics ‘just in case’ they were helpful.
In general, the use of antibiotics did not improve clinical evolution of Covid patients and even increased the risk of death in patients who did not suffer from a bacterial infection.
The WHO has declared that the endurance to the antimicrobials It is one of the top ten public health threats facing humanity.
complicates the treatment
“The endurance to the antimicrobials is highly worrying since, on the one hand, it complicates the treatment and the risk of disease and death of people, and on the other hand, health systems are affected, because people are requiring more extensive hospital treatments and medications more sophisticated and more expensive,” said Victoria Brenes, executive director of the Central American and Caribbean Federation of Pharmaceutical Laboratories (Fedefarma).
Another bad practice that Brenes highlights is that of suspending the treatment of antibiotic you are just beginning to feel relief from the diseasebecause the bacteria that survive can multiply and maintain this property of endurance to the medication.
That is why, before the a coldcough, bronchitis or any stomach infection caused by a virus, antibiotics they will never be the treatment appropriate.
He antibiotic eliminates or inhibits reproduction of the bacteria while the patient’s immune system prepares to neutralize it, and as that time may vary, it is necessary to consume the treatment for as long as it has been prescribed.
According to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), although in most countries there is an action plan against endurance to the antimicrobialsless than half are applying it properly. Data from this organization indicate that in 2019 almost 5 million people died due to endurance to antibiotics and that by 2050 it is estimated that the number of deaths will exceed 10 million.
Coordinated effort
To combat the endurance to the antimicrobials, Fedefarma highlights that it is necessary that there be a coordinated effort by society and the health authorities and that this issue be given priority, since, “in general, the magnitude of the problem has not been addressed globally and people do not know how bad practices are aggravating it.”
