Antibiotics Misuse
                     Antibiotics Misuse
Antibiotic misuse is a significant public health concern and 
economic burden worldwide. Misuse relates both to overuse 
when treating a non-bacterial disease, such as a viral 
infection for which antibiotics are ineffective, and to underuse 
in cases of bacterial disease for which antibiotic treatment 
was delayed or not given and would have benefited the 
patient.
 according to the US Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC), over 80 million antibiotic prescriptions 
are given in the US annually at the outpatient setting to 
treat viral infections, for which they are ineffective and 
inappropriate.
Know More-Antibiotics Misuse
 Over-prescription of unnecessary antibiotics may 
cause adverse events such as allergic reactions, 
antibiotic-associated diarrhea, intestinal yeast 
infection, etc.
These preventable adverse events negatively 
impact patient care and are typically associated 
with prolonged hospital stay.
Antibiotic overuse is also driving the emergence 
of multi-drug resistant bacteria–one of the 
biggest healthcare problems of our time.
Antibiotic underuse may lead to prolonged 
disease duration and increased rate of disease-
related complications, both of which may be 
avoided with prompt treatment of the bacterial 
infection.
Underuse is fairly common. For example, up to 15% 
of adult patients hospitalized for bacterial pneumonia 
in the US receive delayed or no antibiotic treatments 
even though early treatment of bacterial pneumonia 
is known to save lives and reduce complications. 
Presently, a "watchful waiting" approach is being 
adopted in certain clinical situations in an attempt 
to reduce antibiotic overuse. 
Namely, antibiotics are prescribed only after a 
waiting period, during which the disease has not 
proved to be self-limiting.