Your Health -- The growing threat from drug-resistant bacteria

June 16, 2000
Web posted at: 5:52 p.m. EDT (2152 GMT)

From staff reports

(CNN) -- Easily treatable infections may soon become immune to antibiotics, officials of the World Health Organization warned this week in their report "Overcoming Antimicrobial Resistance."

People throughout the world "may only have a decade or two to make use of many of the medicines presently available to stop infectious diseases," said Dr. David Heymann, executive director of WHO's program on communicable diseases.

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Antimicrobial resistance is a naturally occurring biological phenomenon -- bugs develop resistance to drugs that don't kill them -- but the process has been amplified by human behavior, the WHO report said.

WHO officials said poorly planned or haphazard use of medicines has caused drugs to lose effectiveness almost as quickly as scientists have been able to discover them.

In developing countries, resistance is building from improper use of antibiotics. Many patients stop taking the drugs before they have destroyed the infection; surviving bacteria develop resistance.

In the developed world, the problem stems from overuse of antibiotics. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one-third of the antibiotic prescriptions written in the United States are unnecessary.

The WHO report said increasing use of antibacterial household products like soap and other cleansers is worsening the situation.

The American Medical Association recommended greater government evaluation of such products Wednesday, saying their use "may be a potential source of antibiotic resistant organisms." There is no scientific evidence that these products help fight infection, the group said.

The CDC recommends washing with plain soap and water, rather than antibacterial cleansers.

AMA recommends evaluation of anti-bacterial products
June 14, 2000
Antibiotic resistance a growing threat, WHO reports
June 12, 2000
CDC expands campaign against overuse of antibiotics

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
World Health Organization
American Medical Association

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