Contents:
- Medical Video: What Causes Antibiotic Resistance | What Is Antibiotic Resistance |How To Stop Antibiotic Resistance
- What's the difference between antibiotics and other drugs?
- If you have recovered, do antibiotics still have to be spent?
- Antibiotic resistance, the harmful effects of antibiotics that are not spent
- Why can antibiotic resistance be fatal?
- What if the doctor asks you to stop taking antibiotics when it's not finished?
Medical Video: What Causes Antibiotic Resistance | What Is Antibiotic Resistance |How To Stop Antibiotic Resistance
You may have experienced this. Doctors prescribe antibiotics to treat your disease, with the message, "Must be spent!" However, only 1-2 days of taking antibiotics, you immediately feel healthy. In fact, antibiotics that have been prescribed by your doctor have not run out.
You may have heard the suggestion that taking antibiotics must run out. Even if you are healthy again, the remaining antibiotics must continue to be taken until they run out. What will happen if antibiotics are not spent?
What's the difference between antibiotics and other drugs?
Antibiotics serve to treat diseases caused by bacterial infections. The way antibiotics work is to kill or inhibit the process of growth of harmful small organisms in the body, such as parasites, fungi, and bacteria.
Diseases caused by bacteria such as tuberculosis (TB), syphilis, sinusitis, and sore throat can usually be resisted with antibiotics. However, antibiotics will be less effective in treating diseases caused by viral infections such as influenza, herpes, or hepatitis.
Therefore, if you suffer from certain diseases, it is important to find out whether the cause is a bacterial infection or a viral infection. Because, you can only take antibiotics if your disease is caused by bacteria.
Only doctors can determine this. That's why you can only get antibiotics based on a doctor's prescription.
If you have recovered, do antibiotics still have to be spent?
Appropriate use of antibiotics will effectively stop infection and speed healing. So, you should really pay attention to the doctor's message when you are given antibiotics. Depending on the symptoms and signs that appear, antibiotics are usually prescribed for 5-14 days.
If you stop taking antibiotics before the time set by the doctor, the World Health Organization (WHO) reveals that you risk antibiotic resistance.
This can happen because even though the symptoms of the disease you are experiencing have been reduced or lost, it's possible that the bacteria that lodged in the body have not completely died. The bacteria that remain in the body and will experience mutations.
This mutation will cause the bacteria to be resistant to certain antibiotics (you can take antibiotics that you took last time, or similar antibiotics). So when you are attacked by a bacterial infection later on, the antibiotic medication your doctor prescribes may not work anymore to treat your disease.
Antibiotic resistance, the harmful effects of antibiotics that are not spent
As explained above, antibiotic resistance can occur if your antibiotic medication is not taken until it's finished according to the doctor's rules. What is antibiotic resistance?
Antibiotic resistance is a condition when bacteria that attack your body become resistant to antibiotics. People who experience antibiotic resistance will be difficult to cure from bacterial infections that attack them. This risks causing death. Data reported by Republika notes that worldwide, there are an estimated 700 thousand deaths caused by bacterial resistance.
Why can antibiotic resistance be fatal?
Antibiotic resistance is not trivial. This is because, if you are already resistant to certain antibiotics, there are not many types of antibiotics available to replace your disease. The latest antibiotic that was successfully developed by experts last appeared in 2005. That means, the choice of someone infected with a bacterial infection is very limited.
However, several recent studies such as the one published in the Australian Medical Journal state that this risk is not absolutely experienced by everyone. According to the study, antibiotic resistance due to not taking antibiotic drugs did not occur in some people and certain diseases.
Unfortunately, it is very difficult to determine whether you are a high-risk person experiencing antibiotic resistance or not. So, to avoid this risk you should continue to take antibiotics until they run out, according to your doctor's advice.
What if the doctor asks you to stop taking antibiotics when it's not finished?
You can only stop antibiotic treatment faster if it is indeed allowed or recommended by a doctor. Usually the doctor will tell you to stop taking antibiotics that are prescribed after you feel better for some diseases, such as chest pain or urinary tract infections.
If the doctor does not provide information on whether you need to take antibiotics until they run out, you should first ask your doctor's opinion before you decide to stop taking the medication.
The doctor may also prescribe antibiotics for three days. Although relatively short, the doctor may have considered the results of a recent study that revealed that certain diseases could be overcome by taking antibiotics faster.
So, always listen to your doctor's advice and always ask further if you are not sure.
Then, WHO also advised that if the disease suffered can still be cured without antibiotics, you should avoid taking antibiotics. In addition, always follow the doctor's advice when taking antibiotics so that you avoid unwanted risks.
