Antibiotic Resistance: Is It Time to Question Your Doctor’s Advice About Completing Your Antibiotics? by Joy Stephenson-Laws JD
Perhaps you have been told at some point in your life that stopping antibiotic treatment early encourages antibiotic resistance. So like me, when your doctor prescribes antibiotics you are probably very diligent in completing the course of treatment. After all, you want to get well and avoid infections. Well, turns out it may be time to question your doctor’s advice about completing your antibiotic course.
According to Martin J. Llewelyn, professor of infectious diseases at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, there is absolutely no evidence that stopping antibiotics early encourages antibiotic resistance. In fact, taking antibiotics for longer than necessary may increase the risk of antibiotic resistance.
According to the study, doctors, educators and policy-makers are now being advised to stop advocating the completion of antibiotic course when communicating with the public. Further, it says they should "publicly and actively state that this was not evidence-based and is incorrect."
Here is more information on how to be proactive about antibiotics and read more about this study via BMJ.
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I think the public needs to understand that antibiotics should be used sparingly and only in those cases where a known infection is being treated. It is also important to let your body fight off viruses and do what it does best before seeking an antibiotic to treat something it was not meant to treat.