European Antibiotic Awareness Day 2014 Dr Berit MullerPebody

European Antibiotic Awareness Day 2014 Dr Berit Muller-Pebody HCAI & AMR Department, Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance and Control

What are antibiotics? • Medicines that can kill or inhibit the growth of bacteria to cure infections in people, animals and sometimes plants • Medicines for bacterial infections and are not effective against viruses • There are more than 15 different classes of antibiotics that differ in their chemical structure and their action against bacteria 2

Viruses versus bacteria As different as giraffes and goldfish…. BUT Sometimes difficult to determine whether bacteria or viruses are causing an illness Some illnesses — such as pneumonia, meningitis or diarrhoea — can be caused by either viruses or bacteria 3

Bacteria • Single-celled microorganisms that thrive in many different types of environments • Some bacteria live in people's intestines and help digest food • Most bacteria cause no harm to people, but there are exceptions. • Infections caused by bacteria include: o Throat infections o Urinary tract infections o Tuberculosis 4

Viruses • Viruses are even smaller than bacteria and require living hosts — otherwise, they can't survive • When a virus enters a human, animal or plant, it invades some of the cells and takes over the cell machinery, redirecting it to produce the virus • Infections caused by viruses include: o Flu o Common cold o Chickenpox o Measles 5

What is antibiotic resistance? • Some bacteria are naturally resistant to certain antibiotics (intrinsic resistance) • Some bacteria become resistant as a result of genetic changes (acquired resistance) • Resistant bacteria survive antibiotic treatment and continue to multiply causing longer illness or even death • Infections caused by resistant bacteria may require longer care and more expensive antibiotics 6

What is the most important cause of antibiotic resistance? • Antibiotic resistance is a natural occurrence caused by mutations in genes in bacteria causing infections • When exposed to antibiotics, susceptible bacteria are killed and resistant bacteria can continue to grow and multiply • These resistant bacteria may spread and cause infections in other people who have not taken any antibiotics • Inappropriate use of antibiotics accelerates the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria 7

What is ‘inappropriate’ use of antibiotics? Using antibiotics when they are not needed • Infection is caused by a virus and not a bacteria (e. g. cold and flu) • Antibiotics are not painkillers - use other medicines such as calpol, lemsip… • Storing antibiotics for future use – antibiotics should always be prescribed by a doctor who has examined you 8

Not using antibiotics properly • Stopping treatment early • Missing doses you won’t have enough drug in your body and the bacteria will survive and may become resistant 9

Why is antibiotic resistance a problem? • Antibiotics commonly used are no longer effective • May delay the right antibiotic treatment • May result in complications, including death • Patient may need longer care and more expensive antibiotics • Emergence of new bacterial strains resistant to several antibiotics at the same time (known as multidrug-resistant bacteria) → may eventually become resistant to all existing antibiotics • Very few new antibiotics in the pipeline 10

Is it really that serious? In the future, without effective antibiotics, we could return to the “pre -antibiotic era” organ transplants cancer chemotherapy intensive care Bacterial diseases would spread and could no longer be treated 11

What can be done to solve the problem? Remember: Keeping antibiotics effective is everyone’s responsibility! • Antibiotics won’t work in cases of cold or flu, so don’t ask your doctor for antibiotics • Take antibiotics responsibly 12