Antibiotic Surveillance Meeting

Everybody knows taking antibiotic improperly will lead to Antibiotic Resistance. Or, not everybody know it?

So what is antibiotic resistance?

This few years our nation healthcare focus on this, which is to control and do surveillance on antibiotic resistance.

People tend to take antibiotic if they are sick. Even if when doctors do not prescribe, they will ask for it. There is a misconception where they think they will get well faster with the help of antibiotic.

What is antibiotic? Antibiotic is the medication to kill or prevent the growth of bacteria. So if only your illness is caused by bacteria, it will have the effect. Or else, what for taking so much medications which will do no benefits, but actually harm your body.

What harm will it make? First, you need to digest something your body do not need. You burden your liver, your kidney to excrete it.

Second, once it is in our blood, it go through your whole body, and do whatever it wants. Or you thought it just disappear like that? That's where side effects come from. Side effects mean some effects other than the effect we aim. That's why medication always have side effects. Because it doesn't only go to the site where the illness start, but the whole body.

Third, the worst part, the antibiotic did not cure you, but to create resistance, which mean this antibiotic will no longer be effective for you next time you get illness from the same bacteria. Why? because bacteria will evolve. Evolution it is. Every living thing evolve. They know they need to be lack of their hand so that they can survive, so their new generation will become no hand, and your antibiotic will no longer kill it by cutting the hand, for example.

That's why we need to control the antibiotic usage. That's where superbug comes in, where no antibiotic can kill it/prevent its growth.

Some doctors did not prescribe antibiotics wisely. Some ignorant people ask for antibiotics for their minor illness which maybe caused by virus. For example, cough and cold are usually caused by virus. It will go away in some days. You just need to give your body some time to evacuate the foreign particles. Of course, if it gets worse, see the doctor and get the medication accordingly.

This meeting is to ask us, the pharmacist at kesihatan, to take the data of antibiotic usage. Some other measures have been taken in the hospital. This time, the kesihatan. And many more to come.