Britain frowns on overuse of antibiotics for common ailments

Since the discovery and initial administrations of penicillin in the first half on the 20th century, antibiotics have been heralded as nothing less than wonder drugs.

From syphilis to tuberculosis, a host of deadly, prevalent diseases quaked before the almighty antibiotic and its miraculous power.

Nobel prizes in medicine were handed out; bacterial infections were deemed a thing of the past; and modern medicine stood triumphant.

Until, that is, the realisation of antibiotic resistance. In the 1960s, scientists in the UK discovered that clever bacteria were evolving into superbugs like methicillin-resistant taphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which rendered the once powerful penicillin completely helpless.

Today, MRSA and other superbugs have spanned the entire globe, and now it's the antibiotics struggling to catch up.

But how did this change occur?

The number one cause of antibiotic resistance is the over-prescription of antibiotics, especially for non-fatal diseases like ear and sinus infections.

With that in mind, according to the Daily Telegraph, the United Kingdom's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has told doctors to stop prescribing antibiotics to patients who suffer from minor illnesses, like the common cold, tonsillitis and bronchitis.

Experts say that in these cases, not only are the antibiotics not necessary, but they actually contribute to the evolution and spread of superbugs. Instead, doctors have been told to prescribe drugs that alleviate symptoms rather than those which attempt to eradicate the bugs altogether. This more conventional treatment allows the body to do its natural duty and fight off the bug on its own.

The announcement follows British health secretary Alan Johnson's launch of a £ 175 million (Rs 23 billion) advertising campaign earlier this year, which informed the general public that antibiotics will not help with a cough or cold and are not needed for sore throats and earaches.

But the doctors who routinely over prescribe the drugs say that patients often insist on antibiotics, viewing them as more efficacious than conventional methods, in spite of Johnson's campaign.

Though antibiotics are doubtless necessary for a multitude of serious conditions, it should be remembered that their administration also leaves patients vulnerable to stomach infections like Clostridium Difficile (a form of diarrhoea), because the antibiotics indiscriminately kill both good and bad bacteria.

One way authorities are packaging the deal is to inform the general populace that antibiotics do little to alleviate symptoms, and instead often result in unpleasant side effects, like upset stomachs and nausea.