Antibiotic Use and Resistance

Antibiotic Use

• In general, upper respiratory infections account for three quarters of all antibiotics prescribed by office-based physicians.
• Very large numbers of these infections are treated every year with antibiotics whether or not they are caused by bacterial infections, increasing the resistance to antibiotics. 
• People's attitudes and practices related to antibiotic use contribute to increasing this problem.
  Antibiotic Use
• Excessive use of antibiotics in outpatient practices has contributed to the emergence and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the community.
• 45 million antibiotic prescriptions were given for respiratory infections in 1998.¹
  
  

  - 55 % were unlikely to have been of bacterial etiology.
  - Total cost:  $1.32  billion.
  - $726 million spent for probable viral infections.

¹AntibioticPrescriptions for Acute Respiratory Tract Infections
1998, US, NAMCS (National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey)