The Dangers of Antibiotic Resistance

The Daily Times has an article about the growing problem of antibiotic resistant bacteria. As the article states antibiotics are becoming less effective against more and more bacteria as the effects of overuse and inappropriate uses of antibiotics make themselves known. For decades antibiotics provided a very effective way for doctors to fight bacterial infections but today, with more and more resistant bacteria, their effectiveness has been severely reduced.Resistant bacteria can cause everything from a skin infection to sinusitis to pneumonia. Patients and doctors need to take care when it comes to treating any of these conditions with antibiotics. The first thing that should be done is ensuring that antibiotics would be appropriate at all. One of the causes of the rampant antibiotic resistance is inappropriate use of antibiotics. Antibiotics are effective against bacteria, not viruses and their use against colds or influenza has contributed to the increased bacterial resistance. If the case of sinusitis or pneumonia is determined to be bacterial, then it should be considered whether or not the condition is severe enough to warrant antibiotics. Taking more care with the use of antibiotics is one step we can take towards controlling antibiotic resistant bacteria but still research needs to be done on new methods for fighting bacterial infection.If you have questions or concerns about sinusitis an methods of treatment, contact our office to set up an appointment.