Antibiotic resistance is a problem in the field of health, and there is an urgent need to come up with a lasting solution. In order to reduce the overuse of antibiotics which results to bacteria forming resistance, it is important for the patients to be well-informed about the side effects associated with the antibiotics. They should be informed that use of antibiotics for a long time makes the bacteria outwit them, making it hard to treat a disease. As a result, the bacterial infections have become a great challengeto the human health.

The creation and spread and of resistance of the antibiotics can be prevented. Patients should be advised not to ask for antibiotics from their doctors whenever they are sick just for the sake of it (CDC, 2013). They should also not take medicine that is not prescribed to them for their specific illnesses. It is also essential for the patients not to skip antibiotics doses; they should follow the directions given by the doctors for the whole duration. People should also take precautions and improve their hygiene, together with taking other safety measures which include being vaccinated against drug-resistant bacteria and washing hand thoroughly (CDC, 2013).

In my role within the health care system, I would be very aggressive in combating the issue of antibiotic resistance. I believe that fundamental research is vital in dealing with this resistance (PCAST, 2014). Therefore, I would facilitate research in order to come up with new antibiotics that can best deal with the resistance and eliminate all the harmful bacteria in patients. Through the research, we would come up with narrow-spectrum bacteria and also make better use of natural products (PCAST, 2014). I would also carry out clinical trials for the new antibiotics researched on and find whether they are effective for use. While treating patients with resistant bacterial infections, I would ensure that I follow the recent recommendations in order to prescribe the right drugs in an appropriate way (CDC, 2013).

As a patient, I would be more concerned about my health and take the precaution of not buying antibiotics without a doctor’s prescription on my specific illness. It would also be good for me if I do not dictate to the doctor on the medicine that he/she should administer to me. Rather, I would follow all the advice given by the doctor and observe hygiene as much as I can. There are many cases when I have had doubts about the use of antibiotics. For instance, I have questioned why some practitioners prescribe antibiotics to patients without having them tested for the right type of bacteria to be diagnosed. Questions arise later about the competency of the doctor when the same patients return complaining of the same problem. It would be important for medical doctors to be more careful while prescribing antibiotics (Grayson et. al, 2010).

I have also wondered whether the use of oral antibiotics would be better than IV antibiotics since they are cheaper and would favour the patient in terms of finances. Switching from intravenous to oral antibiotics at an early stage has been found to have positive results in many medical wards (Medscape, 2015). In this case, I would highly recommend it to be adopted in our clinic. There is an oversight committee in my work place that ensures proper administration of antibiotics, and recommending that idea to them would be appropriate.

The increased bacteria resistance has posed a great challenge, making most antibiotics ineffective. At this trend, there is fear that pre-antibiotic era may fully set in, where no antibiotic will be effective to treat specific resistant microorganisms. However, with increased research on the same, I believe that that era will not set in since new drugs are being discovered, that will be able to deal with the problem of resistance completely (PCAST, 2014).

References

CDC (2013). Antibiotic resistance threats in the United States, 2013. Retrieved on 24^th June 2015 from http://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/threat-report-2013/

Grayson et. al. (2010). Kucer’s the use of antibiotics sixth edition: A clinical review of antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral drugs. Boca Raton: CRC Press.

Medscape (2015). Intravenous-to-Oral switch therapy. Retrieved on 24^th June 2015 from http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/237521-overview

PCAST (2014). Report to the president on combating antibiotic resistance. Retrieved on 24^th June 2015 from www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/pcast

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