CDC Warns About Overuse of Antibiotics

By Eliza Bussey

WASHINGTON (Reuters Health) - In an effort to reduce the growing numbers of drug-resistant bacteria, officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are urging physicians to stop prescribing antibiotics where the drugs are not necessary.

Director of Antimicrobial Resistance for the CDC, Dr. Richard Besser, told an audience of physicians attending a medical conference that each year US physicians write $50 million worth of prescriptions that are ineffectual and unnecessary. A common reason for unnecessary prescriptions is patient demand for treatment.

``We are facing a crisis because doctors are pressured to prescribe antibiotics for the common cold and inner ear infection, yet we know that it is not prudent to do so,'' Besser said. ``We must collectively inform our patients about the reasons why overprescribing antibiotics will not help patients return to work sooner, and that in the long run, could make them more susceptible to drug-resistant diseases.''

Besser said that three fourths of all outpatients' antibiotics in the US have been prescribed for infections such as otitis media (ear infections), sinusitis, bronchitis, pharyngitis, or non-specific upper respiratory tract infection.

Besser presented research showing that if unnecessary antibiotic use is curtailed, drug resistance will diminish. In Japan, for example, 62% of group A streptococcal isolates were resistant to erythromycin in 1974. However, use of the antibiotic was scaled back, and in 1988, less than 2% of group A streptococcal isolates were resistant to erythromycin.

Senator Edward Kennedy, who spoke during the conference, said he and Senator Bill Frist will introduce legislation to Congress to address the ``growing problems of antimicrobial resistance and its threat to public health.''

``One of the most urgent priorities to halt the spread of drug-resistant pathogens is to improve the capacity of state and local public health agencies to monitor and combat infectious disease,'' Kennedy said. ``We must also educate medical professionals and the public alike to reduce unnecessary prescriptions, and halt the improper dissemination of antimicrobial drugs.''