It all started with a minor cough. As it worsened over the next days, IT specialist Thomas* went to see his general practitioner. “He diagnosed an atypical pneumonia,” Thomas recalls. When the inflammatory values visibly deteriorated, the doctor prescribed an antibiotic.
“But even after five days there was no improvement – on the contrary,” Thomas said. So he had to stay in bed with a high fever for weeks. “Eventually the doctor switched the antibiotic and the values improved two days later.”
Not all patients are that lucky. Every year, rising numbers of people die due to antibiotic resistance – an estimated 25,000 in the European Union. That is why countries and organisations like the World Health Organization (WHO) have started developing strategies to monitor antibiotic use and tackle the problem.
In human and veterinary medicine, including livestock farming, antibiotics can be used improperly; too frequently, in the wrong dosage or as an means to - ineffectively - fight viral infections, which means that bacteria are not fully killed off. As a result some bacteria survive and have time to develop resistance.
“We already have isolated deaths in Switzerland because patients could no longer be treated due to resistance,” said Andreas Kronenberg of the Institute for Infectious Diseases at the University of Bern. The infectious disease specialist is head of the Swiss Centre for Antibiotic Resistance. Full story...
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“But even after five days there was no improvement – on the contrary,” Thomas said. So he had to stay in bed with a high fever for weeks. “Eventually the doctor switched the antibiotic and the values improved two days later.”
Not all patients are that lucky. Every year, rising numbers of people die due to antibiotic resistance – an estimated 25,000 in the European Union. That is why countries and organisations like the World Health Organization (WHO) have started developing strategies to monitor antibiotic use and tackle the problem.
In human and veterinary medicine, including livestock farming, antibiotics can be used improperly; too frequently, in the wrong dosage or as an means to - ineffectively - fight viral infections, which means that bacteria are not fully killed off. As a result some bacteria survive and have time to develop resistance.
“We already have isolated deaths in Switzerland because patients could no longer be treated due to resistance,” said Andreas Kronenberg of the Institute for Infectious Diseases at the University of Bern. The infectious disease specialist is head of the Swiss Centre for Antibiotic Resistance. Full story...
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- Last year’s flu vaccine killed and injured over 93,000 US citizens...
- New research shows that garlic counteracts virulent bacteria...
- French ‘take 48 boxes of pills every year’
- French doctors say half of medical drugs are useless...
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