Every year, more than 35,000 people in Europe die from infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria, calculated the European health service ECDC. We’ve used antibiotics so generously since they were invented that many bacteria have found a secret way to make people sick despite the antibiotics. “The big danger is that we may eventually run out of antibiotics that can fight normal infections. The number of different antibiotics on the market is very small – not much is being developed and new antibiotics are not being tested. The bacteria then become resistant. Even against backup antibiotics, a last resort. Eventually you can die from the common cold. says Liselotte Hardy, a tropical bacteriology researcher The morning.
“Bacteria become insensitive to antibiotics. It’s a kind of genetic change in bacteria. If a bacterium never comes into contact with an antibiotic, it will be sensitive and the cure will work. But when antibiotics are used, the bacteria will react and undergo changes. This increases the possibility of long-term survival of the bacteria and thus becomes the norm. Those bacteria survive and reproduce.
“Antibiotic resistance arises, among other things, from prolonged or more frequent use of the same type of antibiotic. Resistant bacteria can also develop if used incorrectly, for example if antibiotics are used when they are not really needed.”
“If you are prescribed a course of treatment, it is still important to finish the entire course. You take twenty pills and after ten you think: I feel better. But the bacteria are still in your body. If they are no longer attacked by antibiotics, they will reproduce. It is important to follow the course to the end and make sure everything is finished. But the best thing is not to take an antibiotic if it is not necessary”.
