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WORLD ANTIBIOTIC AWARENESS WEEK
Author: Dr. Lynne Julie
Published: 19/11/2019

World Antibiotic Awareness Week (WAAW) is an annual observance highlighting the importance of improving antibiotic prescription and use, also known as antibiotic stewardship.

Antibiotics save lives and are critical tools for treating a number of common and more serious infections, like those that can lead to sepsis. Did you know that antibiotic resistance is one of the most urgent threats to the public's health?

Here's what else you need to know about antibiotic resistance and side effects:

  • Any time antibiotics are used, they can cause side effects and lead to antibiotic resistance.
  • Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria no longer respond to the drugs designed to kill them.
  • Common side effects of antibiotics can include rash, dizziness, nausea, diarrhoea, and yeast infections.
  • More serious side effects include Clostridium difficile infection, which causes diarrhoea that can lead to severe colon damage and death. People can also have severe and life-threatening allergic reactions.
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Stay healthy and keep others healthy by cleaning hands, covering coughs, staying home when sick, and getting recommended vaccines, such as the flu vaccine.

Improving the way healthcare professionals prescribe antibiotics, and the way we take antibiotics, helps keep us healthy now, helps fight antibiotic resistance, and ensures that these life-saving drugs will be available for future generations.

​When antibiotics aren't needed, they won't help you, and the side effects could still cause harm.

Be Antibiotics Aware:

  • Antibiotics save lives. When a patient needs antibiotics, the benefits outweigh the risks of side effects or antibiotic resistance.
  • Antibiotics aren't always the answer. Everyone can help improve antibiotic prescribing and use.
  • Antibiotics do not work on viruses, such as those that cause colds, flu, bronchitis, or runny noses, even if the mucus is thick, yellow, or green.
  • Antibiotics are only needed for treating infections caused by bacteria, but even some bacterial infections get better without antibiotics, including many sinus infections and some ear infections.
  • Antibiotics will not make you feel better if you have a virus. Respiratory viruses usually go away in a week or two without treatment. Ask your healthcare professional about the best way to feel better while your body fights off the virus.
  • If you need antibiotics, take them exactly as prescribed. Talk with your doctor if you have any questions about your antibiotics, or if you develop any side effects, especially diarrhoea, since that could be a Clostridium difficile infection (also called C. difficile or C. diff), which needs to be treated.
  • Antibiotics are critical tools for treating life-threatening conditions such as pneumonia and sepsis.

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It is everyone's responsibility to ensure that antibiotics are used correctly and only when indicated.

If you have any concerns regarding antibiotic prescription or use, please chat to one of our Sisters at Campus Health Service. No need for an appointment, just pop in during opening hours.