When we're sick we want a quick cure. So we go to the doctor and
ask for an antibiotic. Sometimes doctors give in to the pressure
to prescribe an antibiotic, even though it's not going to work
for every illness. Every time a person takes antibiotics,
sensitive bacteria are killed, but resistant germs may be left
to grow and multiply. Repeated and improper uses of antibiotics
are primary causes of the increase in drug-resistant bacteria,
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. Americans
waste money every year purchasing antibiotics to fight the
common cold and other viral infections, which antibiotics cannot
cure. The drugs can cure bacterial infections. The CDC says that
$1.1 billion is spent annually on unnecessary adult upper
respiratory infection antibiotic prescriptions. It is estimated
that more than 50 percent of antibiotics are unnecessarily
prescribed. Antibiotic resistance has been called one of the
world's most pressing public health problems, and the best way
to combat it, the CDC says