In modern medicine, antibacterial drugs are a key weapon for the treatment of bacterial infections. However, the increasing abuse of anti-bacterial drugs in recent years has caused many potential health hazards that must be met with great vigilance and a range of responses.
I. Harm from the abuse of antibacterial drugs
1. Generation of resistance
The abuse of antibacterial drugs leads to the gradual adaptation of bacteria and to the development of drug resistance, which reduces or nullifies the effectiveness of many otherwise effective antibacterial drugs and makes clinical treatment extremely difficult. For example, MRSA is a superb bacteria that is resistant to a variety of commonly used antibacterial drugs. Once bacteria produce resistance, otherwise effective antibacterial drugs are ineffective when treating infections caused by these bacteria. This makes it difficult to control the infection, prolongs the treatment cycle, increases the cost of medical care significantly and may even lead to the death of patients from untreated drugs.
2. Disruption of population balance
There are a large number of normal strains in various parts of the human body, which live with us and are essential to maintaining health. The misuse of anti-bacterial drugs undermines this micro-ecological balance. In the intestinal tract, for example, normal strains help to digest food, synthetic vitamins, etc. Improper use of anti-bacterial drugs can cause a high number of beneficial bacteria, causing intestinal herbology disorders, which can cause gastrointestinal problems such as diarrhoea, constipation and abdominal pain, and may also affect the normal functioning of the immune system.
3. Inducing adverse reactions
Antibacterial drugs have some side effects and abuse increases the risk of adverse reactions, such as allergies, damage to liver and kidney function. For example, amino sugar antibacterial drugs may harm hearing and kidney functions, and the likelihood of these adverse reactions increases significantly if abused. For example, some antibacterial drugs can cause allergies, with severe allergies even endangering life.
II. Common scenes of abuse of antibacterial drugs
Self-diagnosis and use of drugs
Many people judge themselves as bacterial infections and buy antibacterial drugs when they experience slight physical discomfort, such as throat pain, cough or snot. In practice, however, these symptoms may be caused by viruses, such as common flu and influenza, for which antibacterial drugs do not work. This self-use drug is not only a waste of drugs but may also delay the situation.
2. Non-pharmaceutical use
In the course of treating the infection, some patients stop taking their own medications after a slight reduction in symptoms. This would result in bacteria not being completely eliminated, and the remaining bacteria would easily regenerate and lead to repeated cases. And each repeated infection provides an opportunity for bacteria to develop resistance.
3. Preventive abuse
Some people use antibacterial drugs for long periods of time to prevent illness without signs of infection. For example, in cases of travel, seasonal alternation and so forth, the self-preventive use of antibacterial drugs is totally wrong, as it increases the risk of bacterial resistance and has no practical effect on disease prevention.
III. Approaches to addressing the abuse of antibacterial drugs
1. Enhancing public education
Strengthen public health education and raise public awareness and understanding of anti-bacterial drugs. Awareness-raising campaigns, scientific activities, etc., have been used to make people aware of the dangers of the abuse of antibacterial drugs and to determine correctly whether antibacterial drugs are needed in case of illness.
2. Strict observance of medical instructions
Antibacterial drugs should be purchased and used under the guidance of physicians and pharmacists. The doctor selects appropriate antibacterial drugs and determines the course of treatment, depending on the type of infection, severity, age of the patient, physical condition, etc. Patients are required to take their medication on time and in accordance with medical instructions and to complete the entire course of treatment even if the symptoms disappear.
3. Strengthening medical supervision
Medical institutions should strengthen the regulation of anti-bacterial drug use and regulate the prescription behaviour of doctors. Establish surveillance systems for the use of anti-bacterial drugs, and timely intervention and correction of unreasonable use. At the same time, doctors themselves have to keep up to date with their knowledge and make a rational choice of antibacterial drugs to avoid abuse. Drug pharmacies also need to strictly enforce anti-bacterial prescription systems.
In short, the abuse of antibacterial drugs is a serious public health problem, and each of us should be aware of its dangers and take active measures to address them, reduce the abuse of antibacterial drugs, protect these precious resources and ensure that they remain valid in the future to protect our own health and that of others.
