Nobel laureate Dr. John Robin Warren warns of overuse of antibiotics for treating even small ailments. Dr. Warren suggests that excess use of antibiotics is resulting in increased resistance to antibiotics, which may lead us to "disaster."
Speaking at the 102nd Indian Science Congress in Mumbai, India, Dr. Warren suggests that patients suffering with common medical conditions such as cold ask their doctors to prescribe antibiotics. However, doctors should not prescribe any antibiotics to such patients unless needed.
In April 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a global report on antibiotic resistance and its effects on public health. The WHO report claimed that antibiotic resistance is no longer a prediction but is actually happening. Antibiotic resistance can potentially affect anyone in any region of the world.
"Without urgent, coordinated action by many stakeholders, the world is headed for a post-antibiotic era, in which common infections and minor injuries which have been treatable for decades can once again kill," said Dr. Keiji Fukuda, WHO's Assistant Director-General for Health Security.
In 2014, Dr. Fukuda suggested that antibiotics changed the medicine industry and allowed doctors to treat patients properly. However, the excess use of antibiotics will make bacteria resistant to these medicines, which will mean that scientists will need to find an alternative to treat common diseases.
Dr. Warren was asked if he was aware of any reduction of antibiotics prescription following the release of the WHO report. He revealed that he has not seen things improving. Dr. Warren suggests that the situation is not yet a disaster but can easily become one in the near term.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also stresses the importance of using antibiotics only when needed.
"Antibiotics, the most important tool we have to combat life-threatening bacterial diseases, don't work as well as they once did against some infections. In fact, antibiotic resistance is one of the world's most pressing public health threats," per CDC.
The health agency has also started three programs that are designed specifically for educating key partners as well as public about the significance of appropriate antibiotic prescriptions by doctors, and healthcare facilities.
Dr. Warren was awarded the Nobel in 2005 for his efforts in Physiology and his discovery on the 'bacterium Helicobacter pylori' and the role it has in peptic ulcer diseases and gastritis.
