Viral URTI Essay

In the last decade, the number of prescriptions for antibiotics has increases. Even though, antibiotics are helpful, an excess amount of antibiotics can be dangerous. Quite often antibiotics are wrongly prescribed to cure viruses when they are meant to target bacteria. Antibiotics are a type of medicine that is prone to kill microorganisms, or bacteria. By examining the PBS documentary Hunting the Nightmare Bacteria and the article “U.S. government taps GlaxoSmithKline for New Antibiotics” by Ben Hirschler as well as a few other articles can help depict the problem that is of doctors prescribing antibiotics wrongly or excessively, which can led to becoming harmful to the body.

It is thought that overuse of antibiotics is related to the development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) (Austin). As a consequence, there has been an increasing trend to promote appropriate prescribing of antibiotics so as to maximise their therapeutic efficacy and minimise the outbreak of resistance. Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programs in hospitals are exemplary of a method used to promote rational prescription of antibiotics. In this review, we will briefly introduce some examples of AMR to illustrate the extent of this issue. We will then move on to describe AMS programs and the strategies required to

The most frequently reason for prescription of antibiotics was abscesses, 170/464 (37%). The most widely used NSAIDs were Par¬acetamol (Acetaminophen), resulting in 270/464 responses (58.2%). The most commonly prescribed antibioticswas Amoxicillin (n = 344, 74.1%). Only 4.4(8.8%) of the participants followed the WHO guide for good prescription. Female students showed significantly more errors than their male counterparts regarding the dose and drug’s brand name; p=0.002,p= 0.030, respectively. There was a significant reduction in prescription errors with the increase of the students’ educational level (p=0.001), and students from public universities showed more errors in knowing brand names and duration of treatment comparing to those from private universities

The authors of the study are confident that their quality improvement approach can be successfully replicated in other family practice clinics. The methods used by the project could be easily implemented, the materials from the CDC’s Get Smart about Antibiotics are inexpensive and readily available. The article does suggest that their study may have a serious flaw, called the Hawthorne Effect. The Hawthorne Effect or an observer effect acknowledges that both physicians and patients were fully aware they were participating in a quality improvement project. The project would have been more efficient if the participants were unaware they were being evaluated. When individuals believe they are not being observed the results tend to be more trustworthy. Ultimately, the project proved its hypothesis and educated individuals about the risks of overusing antibiotics. Eventually, patients and physicians will learn to be cautious, and let viral infections run their natural

Although declining, inappropriate antibiotic prescribing continues to be a problem, especially the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics for infections of predominantly viral etiology, increasing risk for developing drug-resistant infection complications (Aspinall, Good, Metlay, Mor, & Fine, 2008; Garau & Dagan, 2003). Few interventions have been effective in moderating antibiotic overuse for acute URTIs (Legare et al., 2012). Emphasis on infection control alone is inadequate to address the rise of resistant infections. Judicious prescribing is the

Upper respiratory tract infections (URTI), including acute otitis media (AOM) are the most common cause of ambulatory physician visits and antimicrobial prescriptions in children1,2. The most common bacterial causes of URTI are Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae, though the majority of cases are caused by viral pathogens 3–10. Distinguishing between viral and bacterial URTI can be difficult. Reports on quality of antimicrobial prescriptions have shown a 30-50% of all out-patient prescriptions due to (upper) respiratory tract infections to be inappropriate2,10,11. In Europe the quality of prescription is higher in the north of the continent, including Iceland compared to in the south12. Conversely, many factors contribute to the overuse of antimicrobials2,13–15, which in turn results to increase in antimicrobial resistance16,17. Contributing factors cited by by physicians to cause over-prescription include uncertainty of diagnosis, fear of disease complications, lack of perception of harmful effects of antimicrobials, not perceiving their own prescription practices to be a problem, pressure by patients, limited time, fear of damaging doctor-patient relationship in addition to language, cultural and educational barriers2,13–15. Antimicrobials were long a mainstay treatment against AOM in fear of rare, but dangerous complications, which have later been found to be unfounded, asnd

A URI or Upper Respiratory Infection is also known as the common cold. There are several types of viruses that can contribute to a URI. When the body notices that there is a foreign virus, it begins to increase the mucus production, swelling in your nose which makes it hard to breathe, sneezing and coughing. The best way to prevent colds is by keeping away from other people that may already be sick, hand hygiene, sanitize your area throughout the day. Treatment for the common cold is simply based on what symptoms you have. Antibiotics cannot cure a cold. There are some medications that can help relieve symptoms but it will not make them go away.

Research has revealed how overprescribing antibiotic creates several adverse outcomes, including the development of multidrug resistant organisms, Clostridium difficile infection, and increased costs of health care (Myung et al., 2015). The Consumer Report (2015) raised concern for the overuse of antibiotics and how it leads to the loss of the ability to treat serious infections. Doctors,

A study performed by Alex Broom found that in multiple Australian hospitals contained a culture that perpetuated the ideology of using antibiotics in a reckless manner. In fact the study epitomized the global issue of misuse with the statistic of, “On any given day in Australia, approximately 40% of hospital in-patients will receive antibiotics with up to 50% of those deemed sub-optimal in current best practice terms” (Broom 81). Not only is this an important statistic for the argument that there is an issue, the journal discusses an insight as to why the misuse is happening in some medical quarters. Broom highlights the “social world” of hospitals that make doctors inclined to suppress immediate complications of an illness much more than looking to prevent a catastrophe that takes years to develop. Broom goes on to say, “We conclude that understanding the habitus of the hospital and the logics underpinning practice is a critical step toward developing governance practices that can respond to clinically ‘sub-opitmal’ antibiotic use” (Broom 81). The habitus, or a sort of social constitution among doctors, is one that includes a fear of undertreating as compared to over treating. The inconsideration for over treating patients could possibly be deemed inexplicably

Antibiotic resistance is becoming a more prevalent issue. This is a growing dilemma because, not only do patients have the potential to develop resistance, but they also can transmit the resistant bacteria to others (McKellar, 2014). Additionally, it is estimated that over one-third of all antibiotics prescribed to patients are unnecessary (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016). Overutilization of antibiotics is a growing problem due to some patients’ inappropriate demands for antibiotics or misdiagnoses by prescribers, however, underutilization of antibiotics can be just as problematic. Physicians are trained to use good antimicrobial stewardship when prescribing antibiotics; only giving them to patients who truly do have a bacterial infection. This becomes an issue when providers are too cautious and do not prescribe antibiotics in an attempt not to contribute to antibiotic resistance. Unfortunately, this caution could have a detrimental effect on the health of patients who actually need the antibiotics. To combat this issue, we must find a balance between good antimicrobial stewardship to minimize resistance while also taking underutilization into consideration. We, as pharmacists, are at a unique position between the physician and

You arrive to your doctor’s office with a terrible case of pneumonia. He prescribes you antibiotics, urging you to remain persistent in your doses and to not forget to take them as directed. You comply, as you should, and notice that you no longer show the symptoms that you did a few days ago. You come back next month, however, with a more violent case, seeking further treatment from your doctor. He then prescribes a heftier form of the antibiotic, ensuring a gradual recovery per 6 hours. The flaw in this doctor-patient exchange is very simple: treating, not preventing, the disease is advised. This does not necessarily mean that it is inconsiderate of the doctor to prescribe the antibiotics; as a matter of fact, short-term antibiotics in

In 1992 Shapiro et al. published their research informing providers prophylactic antimicrobial treatment is not routinely indicated [2] There were a total of 387 patients in the controlled trial, 203 patients assigned to receive amoxicillin and 182 were given a placebo [2]. Either 250mg of amoxicillin or a placebo was given to subjects three times a day for ten days. 15 subjects dropped out and 7

Widespread use of antibiotics has been very controversial in the media as well in the general population. Due to these controversies, it is very misunderstood to how antibiotics work leading to many patients in the hospital setting wanting to take them when it is not necessary or refusing to take when it is necessary for their survival. Some of this controversy is due to antibiotic resistance, which has spread an alarming rate in the 21st century (Walsh, 2000). Antibiotic resistance is the result of very strong bacteria or microbes that are resistant to the antibiotic prescribed and those microbes accumulate overtime by their survival, reproduction and transfer, leading to increased levels of antibiotic resistance.

Analysis of relevant physician behavior – urologists vs. generalists; doctors may refuse prescriptions and do not initiate treatment

Eighty percent of antibiotic prescribing takes place in general practice (Haddox, 2013). Therefore, focus of limiting antibiotic