ECDC expresses concern on antibiotics overuse; will warn doctors

The prescription of antibiotics, even when they are not required, is fuelling a rise in number of infections that are resistant to antibiotics, said experts at European Centre of Disease prevention and Control (ECDC) in Stockholm. The ECDC intervention comes after several previous warnings about antibiotic use, and coincides with a UK report drawing similar conclusions

Sarah Earnshaw, an expert at ECDC said that patients, especially parents are often demanding antibiotics for their children. A survey in 2002 showed that 60% of people did not know that antibiotics do not work against viruses such as flu.

The ECDC will be writing to all general physicians warning them about overuse of the drugs and giving them materials to help them explain to demanding patients that antibiotics must be used sparingly, she added.

Modern medicine under threat

The whole span of modern medicine is under threat because antibiotics are being overused, warned Dominique Monnet, a senior expert at the scientific advice unit at the ECDC. 'Organ transplants, hip replacements, cancer chemotherapy, intensive care and neonatal care for premature babies, all of which need antibiotics to prevent bacterial infection, will no longer be possible if we lose it with antibiotics,' according to Ms Monnet.

In a statement, the ECDC said that, 'since their discovery, antibiotics have revolutionized the way we treat patients with bacterial infections and have contributed to reducing the mortality and morbidity from bacterial diseases. They are also an essential tool for modern medicine and common procedures such as transplants, chemotherapy for cancer and even orthopedic surgery could not be performed without the availability of potent antibiotics.

It added: 'Unfortunately antibiotics have also been liable to misuse. Antibiotics are often unnecessarily prescribed for viral infections, against which they have no effect. Similarly when diagnoses are not accurately made, more often than not, broad-spectrum antibiotics, i.e. antibiotics that kill a large proportion of various bacteria and not only the bacteria responsible for the disease, are prescribed because the micro-organism responsible for the infection is not known. These examples of misuse promote the emergence and the selection of resistant bacteria.'