This article is from page 28 of the 2008-12-02 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 28 JPG
that doctors are over-prescribing antibiotics as patients continue to look for a quick fix for common ill- nesses. “Patients may not be aware that antibiotics are not appropriate as a treatment for the common cold or
a flu virus. They are effective only against bacterial infections. We need to give antibiotics the respect they deserve and take them only when absolutely necessary; otherwise we are putting lives at risk, not only for patients today but also for future gen- erations. If you are prescribed antibi- otics by your doctor, it is important to take them exactly as prescribed,” he said.
Mr Hillery said that many GPs are very busy with large patient attend- ance and they do not necessarily have the time to carry out the in-depth ex-
aminations they would like.
“Doctors prescribe antibiotics as a means to an end,” he said.
“There is a school of thought out there that antibiotics are prescribed to stop a patient getting a secondary infection.”
This does not work he said.
Patients also put pressure on doc- tors to prescribe antibiotics he said.
“I think when patients go to the doctor they put pressure on to get something. People almost expect an antibiotic,’ he added.
The negative consequences of us-
ing antibiotics inappropriately ex- tends beyond the individual patient impacting on society as a whole re- sulting in the spread of “superbugs” such as MRSA. “Superbugs” are a consequence of more and more bac- teria becoming resistant to common- ly used antibiotics. Ireland has the second highest rate of VRE (a group of bacteria that is resistant to certain antibiotics) in Europe.
“If in doubt patients should visit their local pharmacist who can ad- vise them on whether a visit to the doctor is necessary or if the patient
can manage their symptoms ef- fectively without antibiotics,’ Mr Hillery said.
A survey carried out by pharma- cists at the “Over 50s Show” found that 37 per cent of people would visit a doctor if they had a cold or flu and one in four admitted they have failed to take a full course of antibiotics in the past, therefore risking a recur- rence of the illness.
A third of those polled said they would visit their pharmacist if they were experiencing cold or flu symp- eyeate