Antibiotic Resistance Affects on Children very Badly: Be Careful
Antibiotic resistant infections are spreading in India and killing over 58,000 children every year. It is a big threat towards Indian children. It is reported recently by The Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (CDDEP). CDDEP produces independent, multidisciplinary research to advance the health and wellbeing of human populations in the United States and around the world. As a responsible guardian, we need to know the basic information of antibiotic and antibiotic resistance.
Antibiotics are compounds that are commonly used to treat infections caused by bacteria and fungi. It saves the lives of children with serious illnesses such as pneumonia, meningitis and septicaemia (blood poisoning). Antibiotics can also be used to treat middle ear infections and skin infections in children.
In many cases particularly with infections of the upper respiratory tract, it is hard to determine if the infection is due to a bacteria or a virus. Some kind of infections which causes runny noses, coughing, sore throats and ear aches are very common. Simple colds and some stomach upsets causing diarrhea, caused by virus, can be destroyed only by the body’s own defense mechanisms.
When antibiotics are overused or not used properly for treating infections in children, it become harder to treat them due to antibiotic resistance. Patient, who has developed antibiotic resistance, has lost its ability to effectively control or kill bacterial growth in the presence of therapeutic levels of an antibiotic.
That’s why it’s so important that children only take antibiotics that have been prescribed by physicians. It is important to complete the entire course of antibiotics. Sometimes your children may feel good after taking medicine for 1/2 days. Don’t stop it until completion of the complete course as prescribed by physicians. If you don’t complete the course, infection may develop again because bacteria were not being completely eliminated.
NB: Antibiotic Resistance can be developed in Adults too.
Image credit: Naille tairov, CC-BY-SA-4.0
