Apr 6, 2017 03:13 AM
http://www.csicop.org/si/show/the_superb...bal_threat
EXCERPT: As millions of Americans visit their health care providers this winter complaining of a cold, surveys suggest that one in four will be expecting their provider to prescribe them an antibiotic, falsely believing that the antibiotic will help them recover more quickly from the virus. The demand for antibiotics by patients is not surprising, considering other survey findings. Only about half of Americans know correctly that antibiotics kill bacteria but not viruses, a proportion that has remained relatively stable for more than a decade.
In recent decades, similarly false beliefs across countries have contributed to a dangerous rise in antibiotic use. Between 2000 and 2010, worldwide sales of antibiotics by pharmacies and hospitals increased 36 percent. Overall, India, China, and the United States use the most antibiotics, though Americans are by far the highest per capita consumers (Van Boeckel et al. 2014). In fact, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) (2013) estimates that 50 percent of all antibiotics prescribed in the United States are not warranted.
The overuse of antibiotics in the United States and other countries combined with the rapid growth in the use of antibiotics to grow livestock has led to the evolution of lethal “superbugs,” bacteria that are resistant to most antibiotics....
EXCERPT: As millions of Americans visit their health care providers this winter complaining of a cold, surveys suggest that one in four will be expecting their provider to prescribe them an antibiotic, falsely believing that the antibiotic will help them recover more quickly from the virus. The demand for antibiotics by patients is not surprising, considering other survey findings. Only about half of Americans know correctly that antibiotics kill bacteria but not viruses, a proportion that has remained relatively stable for more than a decade.
In recent decades, similarly false beliefs across countries have contributed to a dangerous rise in antibiotic use. Between 2000 and 2010, worldwide sales of antibiotics by pharmacies and hospitals increased 36 percent. Overall, India, China, and the United States use the most antibiotics, though Americans are by far the highest per capita consumers (Van Boeckel et al. 2014). In fact, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) (2013) estimates that 50 percent of all antibiotics prescribed in the United States are not warranted.
The overuse of antibiotics in the United States and other countries combined with the rapid growth in the use of antibiotics to grow livestock has led to the evolution of lethal “superbugs,” bacteria that are resistant to most antibiotics....