Antibiotics use

In 1953, Selman Waksman, Ph.D., coined the term antibiotic to explain the phenomenon where “a chemical substance, produced by microorganisms, has the capacity to inhibit the growth and even destroy bacteria and other microorganisms, in dilute solutions.” Waksman, a bacteriologist, had a few years earlier discovered and isolated streptomycin as the first effective treatment against tuberculosis.

Physicians were convinced that infectious diseases might one day be wiped out. Antibiotics were dubbed “magic bullets” because of their seemingly precise action on the bacterial invaders that contributed so much disease.

And used they were – perhaps, too much so.

Antibiotics abuse

The promise of antibiotics is fading as problems surface on a variety of fronts. Doctors have routinely used them to fight many illnesses. Unfortunately, they have been abused.

Obstetricians and gynecologists write more than 2.6 million antibiotic prescriptions per week. Internists give out 1.4 million per week. Pediatricians and family physicians lead the way, prescribing more than $500 billion worth of antibiotics each year for just ear infections in children.

More than 51 percent of adults who saw doctors for the common cold were unnecessarily given a prescription for an antibiotic – which do nothing for the cold because the condition is viral in nature. (Source: Beyond Antibiotics, 2003.)