Consider this scenario. Your child has been awake all night, crying with earache. They're upset and tired, and so are you. You had a flu bug last week, and took some of the antibiotics left over from when your husband had a sore throat a couple of months ago. You'll take the little one to the doctor in the morning and get antibiotics to clear it up. You'll probably have to pester the GP for them, but you'll do it so your child feels better quickly and you don't all have another sleepless night.
In the morning, while you're rushing to the surgery, your dad calls. Your mum's in hospital having a hip replacement, but she's picked up an infection and the antibiotics they're using to treat it aren't working. The doctors will need to try a different antibiotic.
It's probably not immediately apparent to you, but insisting on antibiotics for your child and taking a relative or friend's leftover antibiotics may have an indirect impact on patients such as your mum.
Last week, NICE released their guidelines on antimicrobial stewardship, but what will they mean for parents of children suffering from common infections?
As recently as the 1930s, people often died from infections such as pneumonia or meningitis. Routine operations were high-risk due to the chance of wound infections. Antibiotics, hailed as wonder drugs, changed that and treating and preventing infections became part of modern medical practice. But the bacteria began to fight back, becoming resistant to antibiotics – and our widespread use of antibiotics is partly to blame.
Many of us take antibiotics that we don't need. Antibiotics don't work for colds and flu, they aren't required for most coughs or sore throats, but still we ask for them. And once we have them, we don't always take them in the way we should: missing doses, not finishing the course, and saving them for future use. The idea that this might mean antibiotics won't work in future may sound alarmist, but it's a very real possibility. If we continue as we are doing, common infections will become untreatable and preventing infections during routine healthcare such as setting broken bones, caesarean sections and chemotherapy will not be possible. It's happening already in some parts of the world. But if we look after antibiotics now, and make sure we only use them when we really need to, then they will continue to work.
It needs to be known that antibiotics do not work for most coughs, sore throats and earaches. These are usually self-limiting infections, so the body can fight them itself. Simple self-care measures such as taking some rest, drinking plenty of fluids and regular paracetamol or ibuprofen for a few days will help you or your child feel better. Your local community pharmacist will be able to advise you on when you should see a doctor, as well as symptom relief.
We have grown used to a consumer society in which the customer is always right – but don't expect your GP to prescribe antibiotics when they aren't needed. You may feel desperate to make your child feel well again, but antibiotics aren't necessarily the answer. Antibiotics commonly have side effects such as tummy upsets and have been shown to only reduce the length of time you have symptoms by one day at the most. The inappropriate use of antibiotics may also allow the bacteria to become resistant, causing future problems both for the individual and the wider population.
In some cases, antibiotics will be required. So if your doctor does prescribe an antibiotic for you or your child, always take them as directed – the right amount, at the right time, for the right duration. Never save them for future use or share them with others and return any unused antibiotics to your local community pharmacy for disposal.
Healthcare providers and healthcare staff need to change their practices to preserve our antibiotics but patients and the public also have an important role to play. When your child is crying with earache, your partner is complaining of a sore throat or you're lying in bed with flu, your actions could have a huge potential cost for future generations. By not reaching for antibiotics every time, you're helping safeguard these wonder drugs for your children and their children.