Written By: Bhavyajyoti Chilukoti | Published : August 22, 2017, 1:58 PM
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Have a cough? We take antibiotics. Have flu; we take antibiotics. Antibiotics are the by-default medication that most of us pop without even thinking twice. Read to what studies have to say about antibiotic resistance and its impact.
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The overuse of antibiotics eliminates the drug sensitive microbes, leaving the behind to reproduce as a result of natural selection, thereby causing antibiotic resistance [1]. So the bacteria that survives ends up growing more deadly and more pathogenic than the rest.
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The easy availability of antibiotics over the counter (without a prescription) and the unregulated use of it, is the major reason that promoted overuse of antibiotics, increasing the risk of antibiotic resistance [1]. So do think for a minute before you start heading for a chemist shop to get a dose of antibiotics.
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Only skilled health experts should make the final decisions about the duration of therapy.
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Antibiotics are widely used as a growth supplement in livestock. When you consume livestock as food, there is a chance that the resistant bacteria might be transferred to humans. This is substantiated by a study [3] that found high rates of antibiotic resistance in the intestinal flora of both farm animals and farmers.
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If you have antibiotic resistance, then it goes without saying that you need stronger medications as the common ones stop working [1]. And this could mean, the infections might last longer, more severe illness, longer hospital stay and expensive medications to deal with the condition.
