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Each year in the United States, 90,000 people die from bacterial infection, a seven-fold increase over the last ten years, with much of the increase coming from antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Over $1.1 billion dollars is spent annually on unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions for respiratory illness alone, and over 50% of antibiotic prescriptions are inappropriately prescribed.
Antibiotic resistance leads to a clear increase in patient mortality and is a serious threat to patient safety. It reduces options for treatment and increases lengths of hospital stays, as well as patient morbidity and mortality. Several antibiotic resistant species are already commonplace in the United States, including Methicillin-Resistant Staph Aureus, Clostridium Difficile resistant to clindamycin, and multidrug resistant Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, all of which cause billions of dollars in added healthcare costs and mortality every year.
Patients can combat anti-biotic resistance by ensuring that they take the proper and dose of a prescribed antibiotic, and ensuring with their doctor that it is the correct one. In addition, patients should follow the antibiotic prescription exactly as written, only take their own prescriptions, and never save unused antibiotics.