Hand washing deters antibiotic resistance
Hand washing deters antibiotic resistance
During the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, a group of international disease specialists released a plan to diminish the growing bacterial resistance to antibiotics. Stuart B. Levy, MD, president of the Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics (APUA), described the problem of antibiotic resistance as a societal issue. According to APUA, the most common defense against the spread of antibiotic resistance can be regular hand washing with soap and water.
The plan calls for action from both patients and caregivers. It encourages physicians to use narrow-spectrum antibiotics whenever appropriate, reserve broad-spectrum antibiotics for more serious conditions, and continue monitoring the development of new infections. Patients are urged not to demand antibiotics from physicians, to understand that antibiotics are not necessary to treat viral infections such as the common cold, and that antibiotics should not be used to prevent illness. More information can be found on the APUA’s Web site, www.apua.org.
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