Another reason to get your flu shot - It can help reduce antibiotic resistance

Pioneer grantee Ramanan Laxminarayan, director of Extending the Cure, recently shared his perspective on The Health Care Blog about a new study published in the July issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemology. The study shows that antibiotic prescriptions tend to spike during the flu season, even though influenza is caused by a virus and cannot be treated with antibiotics.

According to Extending the Cure, between 500,000 to one million antibiotic prescriptions are filled each year during the flu season for patients who have the flu and no bacterial illness. This overuse is one of the many causes of the recent spike in antibiotic resistant bacteria.

Laxminarayan proposes a simple solution to this problem – get your flu vaccine this year. If you do not contract the flu, then there is no possible way your care provider will needlessly prescribe you antibiotics to treat it.

 What are some other  ways to curtail the epidemic of drug-resistant bacteria, both during this year’s flu season and beyond? We’re interested in hearing your thoughts – leave a comment here or on THCB.

 

 

Comments

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no possible way your care provider will needlessly prescribe you antibiotics to treat it.