While I will not be able to give statistical data on the misuse of antibiotics, I can categorically tell you that, the misuse of antibiotics puts the human race in a great risk. Misuse in this context will refer to
- Overuse
- Incomplete use
- Unnecessary use.
Infections are responsible for a large number of diseases adversely affecting human health. These infections are caused by microorganisms (that are largely divided into bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa and worm even). Agents known to fight off these infections are called antimicrobial agents, and they differ depending on the causative agents antiviral agents fight off viruses, antibiotics kill or prevent the growth of bacteria, antifungals-fungi, antiheliminthics-worms and so it goes. Let's also mention here, that agents meant to kill viruses (antivirals) will not be effective in fighting bacterial infections and vice versa.
So here is the big question:
How do you know what infection ails you?
You need to visit your Health Care Provider before attempting to buy yourself any kind of medication. Especially antibiotics. What you have might just be a viral infection; and if it's really a bacterial infection you might be using the wrong antibiotics. Antibiotics are divided into classes (depending on the type of bacteria they fight,and their time of discovery) and some of them are reserved for very severe infections.
Another reason why you need to visit your Health Care Provider before buying any antibiotics is that you may not even have a bacterial infection in the first place!
With that in place, here are some of the reasons why you should not MISUSE antibiotics:
- Some antibiotics have been known to increase fatal diarrhoea in children.
- Unnecessary use of antibiotics can upset the normal flora (biological condition) of your guts, creating even more problems.
- The infection may become more difficult to treat because you did not finish your course of antibiotics; making it even more difficult to treat.
So the next time you have been given an antibiotic-containing prescription,
Ensure that you stick to the prescribed dosing schedule e.g. Every 6 hours or 8 hours or even 12 hours depending on the drug you have been prescribed.
Ensure that you use it for the prescribed number of days. Every antibiotic has a time-cap to it.
When you miss a dose of antibiotics, take the next one as soon as you remember. Do NOT take both your missed dose and the next dose. It disrupts the dosing interval and doesn't really make the bacteria die sooner.
_______________________
Oluwaseun Adakaraza.
She's a Pharmacist,
She lives and works in Warri.
Reach her
Twitter @shz_chubbie
Instagram seunadaz
Reach her
Twitter @shz_chubbie
Instagram seunadaz
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