Are antibiotics effective for treating common colds. What are the risks of using antibiotics unnecessarily. When should antibiotics be prescribed for respiratory infections. How can antibiotics be used responsibly to prevent antibiotic resistance.

The Ineffectiveness of Antibiotics for Viral Colds

Common colds are caused by viruses, not bacteria. This fundamental fact underlies the ineffectiveness of antibiotics in treating typical cold symptoms. Antibiotics are designed to combat bacterial infections and have no impact on viruses. Taking antibiotics for a viral cold is not only ineffective but can lead to potentially harmful consequences.

A comprehensive review by the Cochrane Collaboration, examining eleven studies involving healthy individuals of various ages, conclusively demonstrated that antibiotics offer no benefits in treating simple common colds. The duration of cold symptoms remained consistent whether participants took antibiotics or not. This research underscores the futility of antibiotic use for typical viral respiratory infections.

Potential Risks of Unnecessary Antibiotic Use

Using antibiotics when they are not needed can have several negative consequences:

• Antibiotic resistance: Overuse of antibiotics can lead to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, making future infections more difficult to treat.
• Side effects: About 1 in 10 people taking antibiotics experience side effects, commonly including diarrhea, nausea, and other gastrointestinal issues.
• Allergic reactions: Some individuals may develop allergic responses to antibiotics, ranging from mild skin rashes to severe, life-threatening reactions.
• Disruption of gut microbiome: Antibiotics can disturb the balance of beneficial bacteria in the digestive system, potentially leading to various health issues.

These risks highlight the importance of using antibiotics judiciously and only when absolutely necessary.

Recognizing When Antibiotics May Be Beneficial

While antibiotics are ineffective for viral colds, there are situations where they can be crucial in treating respiratory infections. Antibiotics may be beneficial for:

• Bacterial pneumonia
• Strep throat
• Bacterial sinusitis
• Certain ear infections
• Bacterial bronchitis

How can you distinguish between a viral cold and a bacterial infection? Bacterial infections often present with more severe or prolonged symptoms. Signs that may indicate a bacterial infection include:

1. Symptoms persisting for more than 10-14 days
2. High fever (above 102°F or 39°C)
3. Severe facial pain or headache
4. Thick, colored mucus (yellow or green)
5. Swollen lymph nodes

If you experience these symptoms, it’s essential to consult a healthcare provider for proper diagnosis and treatment.

The Phenomenon of Antibiotic Resistance

Antibiotic resistance is a growing global health concern. When bacteria are repeatedly exposed to antibiotics, they can evolve to become resistant to these drugs. This process occurs through natural selection, where bacteria that survive antibiotic treatment pass on their resistant traits to future generations.

Why is antibiotic resistance dangerous? Resistant bacteria can lead to infections that are increasingly difficult to treat, requiring stronger antibiotics or potentially becoming untreatable. This can result in prolonged illnesses, increased healthcare costs, and in severe cases, fatalities.

Factors Contributing to Antibiotic Resistance

• Overprescription of antibiotics
• Incomplete antibiotic courses
• Use of antibiotics in agriculture
• Poor infection control in healthcare settings
• Lack of new antibiotic development

Addressing antibiotic resistance requires a multifaceted approach involving healthcare providers, patients, and policymakers to promote responsible antibiotic use and develop new treatment strategies.

Responsible Antibiotic Use: Guidelines for Patients

To combat antibiotic resistance and ensure these vital medications remain effective, it’s crucial for patients to use antibiotics responsibly. Here are some key guidelines:

1. Only take antibiotics when prescribed by a healthcare professional
2. Complete the entire course of antibiotics as directed, even if you start feeling better
3. Never share antibiotics with others or use leftover antibiotics
4. Dispose of unused antibiotics properly
5. Practice good hygiene to prevent the spread of infections

By following these guidelines, patients can play a significant role in preserving the effectiveness of antibiotics for future generations.

Alternative Approaches to Managing Cold Symptoms

Since antibiotics are ineffective against viral colds, what can you do to alleviate symptoms and support your body’s natural healing process? Here are some evidence-based strategies:

• Rest and hydration: Giving your body time to recover and staying well-hydrated are crucial for fighting off viral infections.
• Over-the-counter pain relievers: Acetaminophen or ibuprofen can help reduce fever and alleviate pain.
• Saline nasal irrigation: Rinsing your nasal passages with saline solution can help clear congestion and remove irritants.
• Honey: Studies have shown that honey can be effective in suppressing coughs, especially in children.
• Zinc supplements: When taken early in the course of a cold, zinc may help reduce the duration of symptoms.
• Vitamin C: While not a cure, vitamin C may help shorten the duration of colds in some individuals.

These approaches can provide symptomatic relief without the risks associated with unnecessary antibiotic use.

The Role of Healthcare Providers in Antibiotic Stewardship

Healthcare providers play a crucial role in promoting responsible antibiotic use. This concept, known as antibiotic stewardship, involves several key practices:

1. Accurate diagnosis: Distinguishing between viral and bacterial infections through proper examination and, when necessary, laboratory tests.
2. Appropriate prescribing: Only prescribing antibiotics when they are truly needed and selecting the most appropriate antibiotic for the specific infection.
3. Patient education: Informing patients about the proper use of antibiotics, potential side effects, and the importance of completing the full course of treatment.
4. Monitoring and feedback: Tracking antibiotic prescribing patterns and providing feedback to improve prescribing practices.
5. Infection prevention: Implementing strategies to prevent the spread of infections in healthcare settings, reducing the need for antibiotics.

By implementing these practices, healthcare providers can significantly contribute to the fight against antibiotic resistance while ensuring optimal patient care.

Challenges in Antibiotic Stewardship

Despite the importance of antibiotic stewardship, healthcare providers face several challenges in its implementation:

• Patient expectations: Some patients may expect or demand antibiotics, even when they are not necessary.
• Time constraints: Proper diagnosis and patient education can be time-consuming in busy clinical settings.
• Diagnostic uncertainty: In some cases, it may be difficult to definitively distinguish between viral and bacterial infections.
• Lack of rapid diagnostic tools: Quick, accurate tests to identify bacterial infections are not always readily available.

Addressing these challenges requires ongoing education, improved diagnostic tools, and a shift in patient expectations regarding antibiotic use.

The Future of Antibiotic Development and Alternative Therapies

As antibiotic resistance continues to grow, researchers are exploring new avenues for combating bacterial infections. Some promising areas of research include:

• Novel antibiotic classes: Scientists are working to discover entirely new classes of antibiotics that may be effective against resistant bacteria.
• Bacteriophage therapy: Using viruses that specifically target bacteria as a treatment for bacterial infections.
• Immunomodulatory therapies: Enhancing the body’s natural immune response to fight bacterial infections more effectively.
• Antibiotic adjuvants: Developing compounds that can be used alongside existing antibiotics to enhance their effectiveness or overcome resistance mechanisms.
• Nanotechnology: Using nanoparticles to deliver antibiotics more efficiently or to directly combat bacterial infections.

These innovative approaches hold promise for addressing the challenges posed by antibiotic-resistant bacteria and providing new tools for treating infections in the future.

The Importance of Continued Research and Development

Continued investment in antibiotic research and development is crucial for several reasons:

1. Combating emerging resistant strains: As bacteria continue to evolve, new antibiotics are needed to address novel resistance mechanisms.
2. Improving treatment options: Developing antibiotics with fewer side effects and more targeted action can improve patient outcomes.
3. Addressing neglected infections: Some bacterial infections receive less attention from pharmaceutical companies, creating a need for focused research efforts.
4. Preparing for future pandemics: Having a robust pipeline of antimicrobial agents can help us respond more effectively to potential bacterial pandemics.

Supporting this research through funding, policy initiatives, and public-private partnerships is essential for maintaining our ability to treat bacterial infections effectively in the long term.

Public Health Implications of Antibiotic Misuse

The misuse of antibiotics extends beyond individual patient care, having significant implications for public health. Some key concerns include:

• Increased healthcare costs: Treating antibiotic-resistant infections often requires longer hospital stays and more expensive medications.
• Spread of resistant bacteria: Antibiotic-resistant bacteria can spread within communities and healthcare settings, posing risks to vulnerable populations.
• Global health security: The spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria across borders threatens global health security and complicates international travel and trade.
• Food safety: The use of antibiotics in agriculture can lead to resistant bacteria entering the food supply, potentially causing difficult-to-treat foodborne illnesses.

Addressing these public health challenges requires coordinated efforts at local, national, and international levels to promote responsible antibiotic use and combat the spread of resistant bacteria.

Strategies for Public Health Intervention

Public health agencies and organizations are implementing various strategies to address the challenges posed by antibiotic misuse:

1. Public education campaigns: Raising awareness about the proper use of antibiotics and the risks of antibiotic resistance.
2. Surveillance programs: Monitoring antibiotic resistance patterns to inform treatment guidelines and public health policies.
3. Infection control measures: Implementing and promoting best practices for preventing the spread of infections in healthcare settings and communities.
4. Policy interventions: Developing and enforcing regulations to limit the use of antibiotics in agriculture and promote responsible prescribing practices.
5. International collaboration: Coordinating efforts across countries to address antibiotic resistance as a global health threat.

These multifaceted approaches aim to preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics and mitigate the public health risks associated with antibiotic resistance.

The Role of Technology in Antibiotic Management

Advancements in technology are playing an increasingly important role in improving antibiotic management and combating resistance. Some key areas of technological innovation include:

• Electronic health records (EHRs): EHRs can provide clinical decision support tools to guide appropriate antibiotic prescribing and track prescribing patterns.
• Rapid diagnostic tests: New technologies are enabling faster, more accurate identification of bacterial infections and antibiotic susceptibility.
• Artificial intelligence: Machine learning algorithms can analyze large datasets to predict antibiotic resistance patterns and optimize treatment strategies.
• Telemedicine: Remote consultations can help reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions by providing expert guidance to primary care providers.
• Mobile health applications: Apps can help patients track their antibiotic use, provide reminders for medication adherence, and offer educational resources.

These technological tools have the potential to significantly improve antibiotic stewardship efforts and enhance patient care.

Challenges and Opportunities in Technological Implementation

While technology offers promising solutions for antibiotic management, several challenges need to be addressed:

1. Cost and accessibility: Ensuring that new technologies are affordable and accessible to healthcare providers across different settings.
2. Integration with existing systems: Seamlessly incorporating new tools into current healthcare workflows and information systems.
3. Data privacy and security: Protecting sensitive patient information while leveraging data for improved antibiotic management.
4. User adoption: Encouraging healthcare providers and patients to embrace and effectively use new technologies.
5. Regulatory considerations: Navigating regulatory requirements for the development and implementation of new medical technologies.

Addressing these challenges will be crucial for maximizing the potential of technology in improving antibiotic use and combating resistance.

Antibiotics and Colds: When Do Antibiotics Work?

In this Article

• Why Taking Antibiotics for a Cold Can Be a Problem
• When Antibiotics Can Help
• Take Antibiotics Responsibly

You’ve got a cold and feel lousy. Maybe you already tried some over-the-counter meds. Time for something stronger, you think. Can antibiotics do the trick?

Here’s the plain truth: Colds are caused by viruses, and no antibiotic in the world can fight one. They only treat an infection that’s brought on by another small living thing — bacteria.

Why Taking Antibiotics for a Cold Can Be a Problem

It might not seem like you’re doing any harm if you take a medicine even though it doesn’t treat your cold, but it can. When people take antibiotics when they don’t have to, over time, the medicine becomes less effective. Someday you’ll really need one because you’ve got an illness caused by a bacteria, but it won’t work.

The reason has to do with the bacteria themselves. They can be sneaky. When they come into contact over and over with antibiotics, they may change in order to survive.

These new strains are “resistant” to some types of antibiotics. If you get an infection with one of these bacteria, your doctor may need to try several types of drugs until they find one that works. You could get a lot sicker while you wait for the one that can treat you.

Antibiotics also have side effects, some very serious. Minor problems include dizziness, vomiting, yeast infections and diarrhea, More serious problems include allergic reactions, difficulty breathing and damage to the colon as the result of infection growing in the body.

When Antibiotics Can Help

When they’re used the right way, antibiotics can save lives. For example, they can treat bronchitis, pneumonia, strep throat, ear infection, and pinkeye — as long as they’re caused by bacteria.

Sometimes, you get infected with a bacteria after you’ve got a cold. Some signs of bacterial sinus infection are pain around your face and eyes that may get worse when you bend over. You might also cough up thick, yellow or green mucus.

These symptoms may also occur with a cold. But if they last for more than a week or are severe, you may have a bacterial infection and need antibiotics.

Only your doctor can prescribe antibiotics. Talk to them if you think you might need them.

Take Antibiotics Responsibly

Here are three things to remember when you’re thinking about taking antibiotics:

Listen to your doctor. They’ll let you know if you’re sick because of a virus or a bacteria and will prescribe antibiotics if you need them.

Follow instructions carefully. Finish all the medicine your doctor asks you to take and stick to the schedule. If there are pills left when your treatment ends, don’t save them “just in case” you might get sick later on.

Don’t share medicine. Never give antibiotics to anyone else, and don’t take someone else’s drugs. They’re not the same. When you need one, it’s important that you take the right medicine for your condition.

Do antibiotics help fight common colds? – InformedHealth.org

Last Update: October 8, 2020; Next update: 2023.

It doesn’t make sense to use antibiotics in the treatment of simple common colds: They don’t free up a stuffy nose or make the cold go away any faster, but they often cause side effects.

Simple common colds – with symptoms such as coughing, a stuffy nose and sometimes a mild fever – are usually caused by viruses. They almost always go away on their own within about two weeks, and often start to get better after just a few days.

Because antibiotics only fight bacteria, and not viruses, they’re usually ineffective against colds. Sometimes a cold may lead to a bacterial infection, though. In that case, antibiotics would have a benefit if they were able to prevent that kind of infection. But because colds almost always clear up on their own without any serious problems, and antibiotics often cause side effects, the pros and cons of using antibiotics need to be carefully considered.

To get a better idea of the advantages and disadvantages of treating simple common colds with antibiotics, researchers from the Cochrane Collaboration – an international research network – specifically looked for studies in that area. They found a total of eleven studies involving otherwise healthy adults, teenagers and children.

Poor outcome for antibiotics used in simple common colds

The studies showed that antibiotics have no benefits in the treatment of simple common colds. Regardless of whether they had taken antibiotics or not, the participants’ colds lasted a similar amount of time. But about 1 out of 10 people who took antibiotics had side effects – usually diarrhea, nausea and other stomach or bowel problems. Other common side effects of antibiotics include skin rashes and, in women, vaginal thrush.

The researchers concluded that there’s no good reason for the wide use of antibiotics in the treatment of simple common colds. Antibiotics should only be considered as a treatment option if a bacterial infection has developed as a result of the cold. But this only happens very rarely.

There is also another good reason for being cautious with antibiotics: Using them too much to treat minor illnesses can make bacteria resistant (unresponsive) to the antibiotics over time. The antibiotics may then no longer be effective in the treatment of more serious infections.

Sources

• Kenealy T, Arroll B. Antibiotics for the common cold and acute purulent rhinitis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2013; (6): CD000247. [PMC free article: PMC7044720] [PubMed: 23733381]

• IQWiG health information is written with the aim of helping
  people understand the advantages and disadvantages of the main treatment options and health
  care services.

  Because IQWiG is a German institute, some of the information provided here is specific to the
  German health care system. The suitability of any of the described options in an individual
  case can be determined by talking to a doctor. We do not offer individual consultations.

  Our information is based on the results of good-quality studies. It is written by a
  team of
  health care professionals, scientists and editors, and reviewed by external experts. You can
  find a detailed description of how our health information is produced and updated in
  our methods.

Are antibiotics always the most appropriate type of fight against SARS and influenza?

We are answering a question that worries many.

Autumn, winter and early spring are the time of colds. Temperature fluctuations, slush and rain, lack of ultraviolet radiation and vitamins affect: our weakened organisms become easy prey for viruses.

Acute respiratory viral infections (ARVI) are a group of diseases caused by a wide variety of viruses. There are more than 200 types of them. However, despite the variety of pathogens, the manifestations of a cold are in many ways similar: fever, chills, headache, weakness, body aches, runny nose, sore and sore throat, cough and hoarseness.

How much medicine does it take to cure a cold?

To get rid of SARS, it would be ideal to hit the target directly – the viruses. However, many antiviral drugs do not have the necessary evidence base and the mechanism of their action is not well understood. In addition, in most cases, the body can cope with the infection itself, you only need to help it – alleviate the symptoms and general condition.

Buying in a pharmacy and taking everything at once – antipyretic, analgesic, vasoconstrictor, antiviral, expectorant and immunostimulating drugs – is almost pointless. When taken together, these drugs can interact – enhance or weaken the effect of each other.

When the disease has already begun, it is important to deal with the symptoms. Complex preparations, for example, Theraflu, help to cope with fever, headache, body aches, nasal congestion, sneezing, runny nose and other symptoms of SARS. Thanks to the combination of several active ingredients, Theraflu fights against severe symptoms of flu and colds. Theraflu from the first day of the disease – to improve well-being and quality of life.

Antibiotics for colds?

Antibiotics are not needed to treat colds and respiratory problems – they do not work on viruses. The doctor prescribes antibacterial drugs if the body’s defenses are weakened and the cold is complicated by a bacterial infection – such a complication can lead to a significant deterioration in the condition.

Please note!

• Only a doctor can prescribe antibiotics: he knows exactly which antibiotics to use in each specific case.
• Antibiotics should not be taken “for prophylaxis”: they do not cure colds and do not protect against bacterial complications of SARS ¹ .
• Antibiotics can provoke the development of a fungal infection, which, against the background of a decrease in immunity, can cause severe illness ¹ .
• Illiterate use of antibacterial drugs leads to the emergence of bacterial strains resistant to them ¹ . Dealing with them can be much more difficult than with viruses. And now the main thing. If you feel that your condition is deteriorating rapidly, dizziness, shortness of breath, a feeling of lack of air, a strong heartbeat and interruptions in the work of the heart, do not try to cope with situations on your own (for example, use non-drug folk methods) – immediately contact your doctor to “banal” a cold did not develop into a serious illness. ²
  

Is it harmful to take antibiotics for flu and covid, December 2022 – December 10, 2022

Antibiotics can only be taken if there are convincing signs of a bacterial infection

Illustration: Yuri Orlov / NGS.RU

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900 02 It’s SARS season, and This means that people get sick with different types of infections, including coronavirus and influenza. What exactly is not always understood, and the treatment is often the patients themselves, and some doctors choose the standard one. If enough bed rest, vitamins, plenty of fluids and other symptomatic treatment, this is good, but some decide to immediately connect the “heavy artillery” – antibiotics. And you can’t do that. NGS medical observer Maria Tishchenko learned from experts why in most cases it is not just not necessary to drink antibiotics, but dangerous, what it leads to, is it true that the problem of bacterial resistance to various drugs has recently worsened and how the pandemic has worsened the situation.

Important! Remember that viral diseases, in particular covid, are not treated with antibiotics. Antibacterial drugs can be prescribed by a doctor, but only if there are convincing signs of a bacterial infection!

Unfortunately, now there are cases when some doctors continue to prescribe antibiotics in the general treatment regimen for SARS or covid immediately, just in case (which cannot be done), or if the temperature lasts for several days. Or patients themselves self-medicate and mistakenly prescribe antibiotics for themselves.

They can be prescribed by a doctor if there are convincing signs of a bacterial infection (clinical manifestations or laboratory-confirmed – we talked about this in more detail here).

This leads to the formation of resistance (resistance) in bacteria to drugs, which means that the next time they are used, the effectiveness decreases.

— The problem of antibiotic resistance is one of the key ones not only for our health care, but for all the inhabitants of the planet. According to WHO experts, about 1.27 million people a year die from infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria, says an internist at the Zdravitsa Family Medicine Center Varvara Veretyuk.

Infectionist, chief physician of the clinical diagnostic laboratory “Invitro-Siberia” Andrey Pozdnyakov says that the problem of antibiotic resistance of microorganisms did not arise yesterday or a year ago, it is almost as old as the invention of the first antibiotics:

— In fact, this is the eternal race of “defense and attack.” Pharmacology “attacks” bacteria with antibiotics, bacteria, in turn, “defend” against these attacks by acquiring resistance mechanisms and spreading them in their population. If there were no mechanisms for the acquisition of drug resistance in microbiology, there would be no need to develop more and more new antimicrobials. 1-2 would be enough for each group of bacteria.

But, according to him, in the last 10-15 years, the problem has worsened due to the fact that, firstly, effective classes of antimicrobial drugs have not been launched into practical healthcare. And there is no class of such drugs undergoing clinical trials.

Secondly, due to the widespread use of antimicrobial drugs not only and not so much in medicine, but also in agriculture, veterinary medicine, and the food industry, even microbes that were previously sensitive to the widest range of conventional outpatient drugs have become resistant to antibiotic therapy.

During the pandemic, many people across the country bought antibiotics for future use, just in case, and there was a shortage of some drugs

Photo: Alexander Oshchepkov / NGS.RU

orei Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Previously, the disease caused by this microbe and quite widespread in the world was treated with any drugs, including penicillin, the first and oldest invented antibiotic with a fairly narrow spectrum of action.

Andrei Pozdnyakov explains that in recent decades, gonococcus has become increasingly multidrug resistant to almost all common drug groups, including penicillins, sulfonamides, tetracyclines, fluoroquinolones and macrolides, as well as options for “last line therapy”, in particular cephalosporins.

However, the disease is not rare: according to WHO, in 2020 alone, 82 million new cases of the disease were officially registered in the world.

— Why did this happen? A “shameful” disease that is easier to treat quietly than to see a doctor; easy access to antibiotics, their wrong choice, poor quality of drugs and irrational use – insufficient or, conversely, excessive course. All this was layered on the genetic mutations of the gonococcus in the body. Hence, “supergonococcus” (officially, gonorrhea superbacterium) is actively spreading around the world and is resistant to almost all antimicrobial drugs, explains Andrey Pozdnyakov.

Varvara Veretyuk gives an example of pneumococcus (Streptococcus pneumoniae), which caused more than 40% of respiratory tract infections in patients hospitalized in the Novosibirsk Region internal medicine departments.

– He had reduced sensitivity or resistance to ceftriaxone in 1.5-10% of cases, to erythromycin – in 13.5% of cases, to levofloxacin – in 96. 4-100% of cases, to clarithromycin – in 18.27% of cases cases, to tetracycline – in 42.3% of cases. Resistance to azithromycin and clarithromycin in this bacterium in 2018 was 16.4%, and reduced sensitivity to levofloxacin was noted in 100% of cases.

But, Andrei Pozdnyakov emphasizes, perhaps the most global problem of antibiotic resistance is gram-negative opportunistic microflora (OPM). There are a great many of these bacteria – Klebsiella, Escherichia coli, Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas (including the infamous Pseudomonas aeruginosa in their genus) and many other families and genera.

All these microbes are common in the external environment and already have resistance to various adverse factors, that is, they can change and adapt, while they can colonize (populate) human skin and mucous membranes. Their task is to “survive and not interfere.” Almost all people are UPM carriers.

In a normal state, an organism with an adequately functioning immune system and a well-developed normoflora (beneficial microbes) will not allow them to multiply and have any negative impact.

— But if a person becomes seriously ill, then the immune system temporarily weakens control over the UPM, directing all its forces to fight the disease that has occurred. Accordingly, UPM can begin to multiply. Plus, the use of antibiotics to treat the disease will destroy part of the normal flora. And UPM adapts and acquires resistance factors from this drug. If this person gets to the hospital, then part of the flora migrates into the external environment, says the infectious disease specialist.

It turns out that in the external environment there is a UPM colony that is resistant to some antibiotic. If this happens in some closed space once, two or three times – it is not critical. If this happens regularly and often, then as a result, in this space there is a bunch of different microorganisms with the ability to adapt and with already acquired resistance to certain antibiotics.

— Where are there such secret rooms? Most often, these are hospitals, intensive care units and intensive care units. Naturally, disinfecting measures are regularly carried out there with substances that are quite aggressive for microflora. But the ability of UPM to adapt often withstands this treatment with antiseptics. Bonus: different species and even genera of bacteria are able to exchange resistance factors with each other, notes Andrey Pozdnyakov.

This is becoming more and more of a problem for physicians. Diseases caused by such resistant microbes are difficult to treat.

Antibiotics cannot be used with coronavirus, because viruses are not treated with this group of drugs

Photo: Alexander Oshchepkov / NGS.RU

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The covid pandemic has contributed to the development of antibiotic resistance in bacteria. In this opinion, the experts are unanimous.

Andrey Pozdnyakov highlights the first year of the pandemic in particular:

– Panic, lack of information about the disease, the severity of the infection, lung damage clinically similar to pneumonia of an unknown nature (possibly layers of secondary flora), a pronounced increase in C-reactive protein, which is traditionally considered a marker of a bacterial infection, in severe patients – all this led to the active use of antibiotics, most often without indications, in various combinations, with long courses.

Accordingly, in hospitals, the formation of antimicrobial resistance of nosocomial flora has increased, its spectrum has expanded.

— All this was increased a hundredfold by panic among the population. The result is the massive use of antimicrobial drugs in viral infections. As a result, we received a decrease in the sensitivity of microorganisms to aminopenicillins and cephalosporins. Azithromycin seems to have remained a more or less effective drug for the treatment of diseases caused by microbes that do not constantly circulate in the human population. For example, the causative agent of borreliosis. For the treatment of bacterial infections caused by widespread groups of microbes, it can no longer be used, Andrey Pozdnyakov is sure.

— The COVID-19 pandemic has unfortunately led to an increase in the use of antibiotics, especially azithromycin and levofloxacin. Semi-synthetic penicillins (amoxicillin) and cephalosporins are also often prescribed. By the way, one of the problems voiced by WHO is the resistance of the causative agent of gonorrhea to cephalosporins just in connection with irrational antibiotic therapy. There is a database that collects data on antibiotic resistance,” notes Varvara Veretyuk.

Unfortunately, there are no new groups of drugs in practical use, experts note.

“Developments are underway, but, apparently, they are not successful enough… The problem remains,” Andrey Pozdnyakov emphasizes.

Varvara Veretyuk says there is evidence of promising drugs that can interfere with the use of iron by bacteria. But the problem is that our body also needs iron for life. Therefore, there are such difficulties with the development of new antibiotics, because the drug must be not only effective, but also safe.

— After 2015, there were no new antibiotics yet, before that there were several drugs in 90’s. So our arsenal of weapons against bacteria remains rather modest, and it is better to protect it.