NEGAUNEE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WLUC) – Health care experts are warning the public about antibiotic resistance.
According to Aspirus Health, each year, more than 2.8 million people in the U.S. contract infections due to antibiotic resistance, resulting in more than 35,000 deaths.
This week is U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week, and health care officials are trying to spread awareness of this issue.
“Antibiotic resistance is considered an urgent global public health threat that is consistently getting worse by the day, we’re constantly learning about new infections that are becoming harder and harder to treat and the drugs that we have aren’t working anymore and we’re seeing this on a national, state and local level within our community,” Aspirus Health System Antimicrobial Stewardship Coordinator Kelly Zander said.
The Chief Medical Executive for the state of Michigan explained one of the most common bacteria that has become resistant to antibiotics.
“One of the most well-known examples is MRSA, as people sometimes call it, and this is an organism, a bacteria called Staphylococcus aureus that often lives on the surface of people’s skin and, over time, it became resistant to a whole slew of antibiotics,” Michigan Chief Medical Executive Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian said.
Dr. Bagdasarian says overuse of antibiotics, especially during cold and flu season, can lead to more bacteria becoming resistant.
“Antibiotics work against bacteria, they don’t work against viruses. They don’t work against things like colds and flu. Sometimes there’s a lot of pressure to prescribe antibiotics during cold and flu season. People come in feeling rotten and they’re like, ‘doc can you just give me a Z-pack?’ and we know that antibiotics are not going to be helpful for a virus,” Bagdasarian said.
Bagdasarian also said if you are prescribed antibiotics by your doctor you should take them exactly as described and not save them for later or share them with someone else.
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