For a long time, self-medication included the consumption of antibiotics in the population without a medical estimate that supported the real need for seasonal respiratory symptoms such as flu, colds or bronchitis. This custom was established and caused innumerable health problems in patients, since it is a medication that must be indicated for specific cases. Its excessive use puts at risk the ability to mitigate or eradicate health conditions, warn the Argentine Federation of Chambers of Pharmacies (Facaf).
Since 2022, Law 27680 has been in force in our country, which made it mandatory to sell antibiotics only with a medical prescription and campaigns for their responsible use were intensified from different sectors linked to Health.
“We have to take into account that the latest generations of antibiotics to combat bacteria date back to the 1960s, meaning that we are very limited in quantity to be able to fight microbial diseases. That is why we have to work intensely to raise awareness about the rational use of this drug, otherwise at some point we may run out of tools,” explained Daniel Carnevale, a member of Facaf, one of the institutions that has been carrying out campaigns to educate, inform and warn about the drug. issue.
One of the main consequences of the inappropriate use of antibiotics and in cases that are not required for the type of condition, is the resistance it produces in subsequent treatments. “The doctor generally prescribes an antibiotic when there is a bacterial infection. There are times that infections are caused by a viral condition and in those cases antibiotics do not act on the viruses. Hence the importance of medical evaluation and the specific prescription of the type of medication that the patient requires. It also happens that sometimes the patient does not follow the treatment that the professional proposes, either because he does not take the doses correctly or interrupts the doses before the indicated period and this means that not all of the diagnosed germs are eliminated. So if later and given the persistence of the condition, if a new treatment with the same antibiotic is started, it is highly likely that it will prove resistant in its effects on the disease,” Carnevale added.
TOP TEN THREATS
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), antimicrobial resistance is one of the top ten public health threats facing humanity. There are also reports from international organizations that estimate that if this trend is not reversed, antibiotic resistance will be responsible for more than 10 million deaths worldwide by 2050.
An analysis published in the British medical journal “The Lancet” on bacterial resistance to antimicrobials, cites the figure of 1.27 million deaths directly caused by multidrug-resistant infections in 2019 and raises the number of deaths that were related to almost 5 million. indirectly with antibiotic resistance.
“On many occasions, patients, due to previous experiences and at the suggestion of family members, take or buy some type of product to treat conditions, believing that the solution comes with two or three doses when they feel better and in reality they must understand that they are creating a very complicated situation.” forward,” added Carnevale.
