The abuse of antibiotics makes the mission of doctors more and more difficult. They say that bacteria are becoming more resistant and the treatment applied to patients is increasingly difficult to find. The super-antibiotics used to save the lives are very expensive and roast the budget of the hospitals.
Antibiotic resistant bacteria are a shutterstock photo hazard
For decades, the Romanians took antibiotics even without the recommendation of the doctors, although in some cases such treatment was not required, and the European statistics strengthen this statement. Romania had reached the third place, at European level, regarding the consumption of antibiotics. And the effects are currently seen. Infectious and epidemiological specialists say that due to the abuse of such drugs, more and more bacteria have begun to become antibiotic resistant, and the treatments no longer have their effect. In these cases, super-antibiotics are used, which tear the health budget in Romania.
Abuse of antibiotics, super-resistant bacteria
Infectious doctor Cristi Prepeliuc says that self -medication and abuse of antibiotics have led to this serious situation in Romania. It was a period when patients were treated alone. “The antibiotic was holy. Everyone was saying, “give him the child that he passes quickly and does not lose school.” And look, I ate antibiotics on bread. At the recommendation of neighbors, family, friends”, Confesses a Botosani. And this abuse has only to help bacteria build survival mechanisms.
For example, meticillin resistant staphylococcus, Klebsiella pneumoniae resistant to cephalosporins and carbapenems or Enterococcus faecium resistant to vancomycin. “In our country is this problem with patients who have antibiotics by ear, without recommendation from the doctor. It is true that this problem has been solved when those special recipes for antibiotic were introduced with all the data, but, yes, first of all it was a very high consumption of antibiotics without a recommendation from a doctor has led to this doctor.”says Cristi Prepeliuc. “Antibot resistance means that certain bacteria can develop resistance mechanisms, they form mutations that make antibiotics no longer effective in treatment.”adds the doctor.
“Become deadly”
Epidemiologist Irina Alecu says that we are inferior to the speed of adaptation of microorganisms, which makes us vulnerable: “Already more and more microorganisms are totally resistant to everything we know in terms of antibiotics ”.
And the situation is complicated when we get sick with one of these super-bacteria. Classic treatments do not work and the infection evolves unstoppably. In those moments everything becomes dramatic and frustrating, both for doctors, but especially for patients who get to fight for their lives. “We are in the situation of surrendering in front of a microorganism that has developed a total resistance to any substance we have for treatment at the moment. They become deadly. This situation appeared after a long period of use, without caution, of antibiotics. We always know that antibiotics do not work on everything that means viral infection. We do not take antibiotics for any pain, because they are not analgic. We need to understand that the antibiotic should be taken aimed, when we know what is effective on a certain infection. This is how we arrived in the present situation, we have more and more microorganisms for which we cannot intervene ”adds Irina Alecu.
Super-antibiotics for super-bacteria
At the moment, much of the medical research focuses exactly on studying these resistant bacteria, but also on finding effective treatments. When a patient becomes infected with a many durable drug bacterium, several variants are tried. Newer and stronger antibiotics are used, to which the bacteria did not have time to adapt, or a combination of antibiotics.
In some cases, complementary therapies are also used, especially when nothing will bear fruit, as well as therapy. It is about the use of bacteriophagi (viruses that infect bacteria) that kill bacteria. The treatments of patients who get to fight for their lives because of bacteria are also extremely expensive. “I ordered for some very expensive and efficient antibiotics. They cost 70,000 lei for a single patient. Obviously, I bought them”says Corneliu Prepeliță, director of the “Mavromati” Botosani County Hospital.
