Call for 'war' on use of antibiotics

We need to “wage a war” on the growing resistance to antibiotics or risk wasting one of the most important medical advances of the past 100 years, a HSE consultant microbiologist has warned.

Speaking in advance of the launch of a HSE campaign today to raise awareness of the overuse of antibiotics, Dr Fitzpatrick, HSE clinical lead for the prevention of healthcare- associated infection, said if overuse is not tackled “we will be back to an era where people become gravely ill or die because we have run out of effective antibiotics”.

Irish antibiotic consumption is mid-to-high compared to other European countries, a recent report showed.

The Antimicrobial Consumption Data Report for the first half of 2011, said annual rates of antibiotic use in Ireland had declined in 2008 and then levelled out. But in the first quarter of 2011 the daily doses of antibiotics consumed were at their highest since 2006.

The bill for antibiotic use in the community was likely to be €44.2 million for the whole of 2011, down from a high of €58.8 million in 2008, it found.

Dr Fitzpatrick said antibiotics had revolutionised the way patients with bacterial infections are treated and have saved many lives, but are now sometimes taken unnecessarily for infections such as colds and flu where they have “absolutely no benefit”.

“Using antibiotics when we don’t really need them leads to the person building up a resistance to antibiotics: when they really need an antibiotic for a serious illness, an antibiotic may not work,” she warned.

The key message of today’s campaign - that antibiotics are wasted on colds and flus - will be disseminated through information leaflets in pharmacies and GP surgeries and through radio adverts on local and national radio. The campaign is supported by The Irish College of General Practitioners, Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and the Irish Pharmacy Union.