Get Smart About Antibiotics

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has dedicated the week of November 12 – November 18, 2012 to recognizing the importance of appropriate antibiotic use¹. The week is comprised of efforts from the Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work campaign, state-based appropriate antibiotic use campaigns, non-profit partners, and for-profit partners¹. Consumers may have become familiar with antibiotic resistance; which has happened due to increased use of antibiotics—the drugs have been used to help fight disease and sickness for so long that the bacteria have adapted and the medications don’t work as well. This week, CDC’s goal is to help raise awareness and educate patients and doctors alike about appropriate antibiotic use.

The aims of this campaign are to help reduce antibiotic resistance by promoting adherence to prescribing guidelines among providers, decreasing demand for antibiotics for viral upper respiratory infections among healthy adults and parents of young children; and increasing adherence to prescribed antibiotics for viral upper respiratory infections.

Did you know?

• According to the CDC, more than 50% of antibiotics are unnecessarily prescribed in office setting for upper respiratory infections, most of which are caused by viruses².
• Up to 50% of antibiotic use in hospitals is either unnecessary or inappropriate²_.
• In children, reactions to antibiotics are the most common cause of emergency department visits for adverse drug events²_.

Healthcare providers must take a leadership position in this campaign to help educate their patients and prescribe medications accordingly. It is essential that healthcare providers work with each other to make sure that the patients understand when a prescription for antibiotics is needed and why they may not need one. The CDC encourages healthcare providers to make sure that an antibiotic prescription is absolutely necessary in order to prevent the spread of antibiotic resistance³ (and you can learn more by reading a helpful chart here!).

Antibiotic resistance does not only affect the person taking the medication but also the people around them. If the bacteria has adapted to the medication it is possible for it to infect another person2. The CDC has all of this information and more on their website including fact sheets, planning materials and toolkits to help launch your Get Smart About Antibiotics Week.

Here at Coast2Coast Rx we recognize that these health services and prescriptions cost money and we want to make sure you get the medication you need, so don’t forget to keep that Coast2Coast Rx discount card somewhere convenient!

Come by and say “hello” on our Facebook and our Twitter pages, we’d love to hear from you.

 

1. http://www.cdc.gov/getsmart/campaign-materials/week/overview.html
2. http://www.cdc.gov/getsmart/campaign-materials/week/downloads/gsw-factsheet-parents.pdf
3. http://www.cdc.gov/getsmart/campaign-materials/week/downloads/gsw-factsheet-providers.pdf