Doctors prescribe too many antibiotics

Doctors prescribe too many antibiotics. There are threats of resistance and thus ineffectiveness of the antibiotic agents.

29/12/2010

According to current evaluations of the Scientific Institute of the AOK (WIdO) doctors in Germany prescribe too often antibiotic drugs. Although antibiotics do not work in the case of a flu infection, many physicians still prescribe antibiotic agents. In the view of the scientific institute this promotes the resistance of antibiotics, so that in the future many medicines will no longer be effective.

The scientific institute of the health insurance AOK (WIdO) warns against an inflationary use of antibiotic drugs. Although the drugs only work on bacterial infections, many doctors prescribe antibiotics as a panacea, for example, a mild flu. Often the diagnosis is not adequately secured and yet the doctors prescribe the antibiotic agents. Given this inflationary prescription practice health experts predict a massive increase in antibiotic resistance, so that many bacterial infections can be fought in the future only with very strong means or an antibiotic in many diseases no longer works. Due to the precautionary handling of antibiotics, experts are calling for new laws to regulate regulation and dosage in the future.

Especially children are often given an antibiotic
Especially children often receive antibiotics, although there is only a mild flu or a cold. The affected children mostly suffer only from sore throat, runny nose and cough, whose symptoms could be alleviated with natural home remedies. Nevertheless, many paediatricians prescribe a 10-day course of antibiotic medication. Home remedies or gentle remedies are barely administered. According to the AOK Institute, every child up to the age of 10 has been prescribed antibiotic therapy for at least six days. Around three million children in Germany even received the antibiotic drugs over a period of 14 days.

Last year alone, doctors prescribed around 40.6 million antibiotics worth 760 million euros. Family doctors, internists and paediatricians most often issue prescriptions for penicillin and other antibiotic medicines. Germany is not yet at the top in European comparison. In France, the active ingredients are prescribed by doctors even more often. Here scientists could already observe some resistances. If the inflationary prescription practice continues in Germany as well, then the patients in this country are threatened with a high resistance formation.

Home remedy for mild colds
For mild infections help old and yet highly effective home remedies. Naturopathy has numerous applications as an alternative to antibiotics to support the body in its immune system. Especially with cough, runny nose and other colds, natural remedies have proven their worth. (Sb)

Also read:
Home remedies for sore throat
Home remedy for earache
Home remedies for colds
Options of self-treatment in case of cold
Alternatives to antibiotics from naturopathy

Picture: Thomas Blenkers