Superbug fears in antibiotic overuse AUSTRALIANS spooked by the
swine flu pandemic have driven a rise in the use of antibiotics
in the past two years, undoing the work of health campaigns and
prompting concerns about the rise of so-called superbugs.
Doctors dispense 22 million prescriptions each year, and
Australians are estimated to be among the highest users of
antibiotics in OECD countries. NPS Medicinewise, a federally
funded body promoting health education, says about 3 million of
those prescriptions are wasted on viral infections. Antibiotic
prescriptions dropped during an NPS awareness campaign about
treating common colds which ran in 2006-08, but they rose again
in 2009 after the outbreak of swine flu. The NPS is planning to
renew its campaign early next year and the World Health
Organisation has put antibiotic resistance on the agenda for
World Health Day next month. One of the reasons world health
experts believe antibiotic-resistant bugs are increasing is
because of the misuse of antibiotics by doc