Antibiotics…. Something we have all probably had at a point in our lives. Whether it was for a simple ear infection or a life threatening infection, you have probably had one. Antibiotics seem to be something we are beginning to take for granted. We need to have them, but what if soon they will stop working? According to the CDC, almost 3 million infections occur each year that are antibiotic resistant. In return, 35,000 people die.

Doctors have become much more vigilant when prescribing antibiotics, but more is needing to be done. The doctors can be careful, but that does not stop people from mis-using antibiotics. One of the most common things I hear from people I know is, ” oh yea so and so had some amoxicillin left over from last year she gave me so I don’t have to go to the doctor.” There is so much wrong with this statement that it hurts me. First of all, the first person should have finished the antibiotic because not finishing it is just feeding antibiotic resistance, and the second person may just have something viral, so she is also giving fuel to the fire of antibiotic resistance. Even if she did have an infection, there is probably not enough of the antibiotic left to completely rid her of the infection, and it is possibly not even the right medication. The education needs to be there. Some people don’t have the common knowledge to always finish an antibiotic, and if it isn’t stressed, but only in the fine print, they won’t listen or know.

There are many organisms that are becoming antibiotic resistant and posing urgent threats. Among these are Carbapenem- resistant Acinetobacter, Drug – resistant C.Auris, C.difficile, Carbapenem – resistant Enterobacteriaceae, and N. gonorrhoeae. These are just the ones on the urgent list from the CDC, there are many more that are categorized as serious, but can make their way up to urgent. The question we now pose is what to do. Medical News Today tells us that we need to better understand ways to treat infections other than antibiotics. A team at Emory University has been testing bacteriophages, vaccines, and antibodies as ways around using antibiotics. But, for now the general public needs to focus on working actively to prevent the infections. But, this is not an easy task. So, we as the public need to listen to what our healthcare professionals say, and the healthcare professionals need to make sure they are educating families and patients. As with everything else, wash your hands and stay away from touching your face. I know for me, this is a very scary topic because we don’t know a world without a cure for things like this. We need to accept the present and be active in helping in whatever way to further the health of the population.