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Join the fight against antibiotic resistance

February 9, 2022

So what can individuals do to help tackle antibiotic resistance? It might seem to be an overwhelming problem, like climate change, that individuals are powerless to do anything about, but that is not the case. Simple actions can help protect you, your family and loved ones. Not taking antibiotics when they aren’t needed is a great way to avoid the side effects they cause; antibiotics can alter the balance of bacteria in the gut and can have longer term health implications that we are only beginning to realise.

  • Vaccination: Ensure you are up to date with any vaccinations you or family members require (e.g. pneumococcal vaccine, MMR). Vaccination is one of the most effective ways of preventing infectious diseases.
  • Antibiotics cannot kill viruses, so they are no good for colds and influenza. If you have a cold, take care, not antibiotics. Make sure you get your flu jab, and make sure any family members who are eligible for a flu vaccine get their jab every winter.  Visit your community pharmacist for help with self-care when you have a cold or sore throat. Ear infections are usually caused by viruses and evidence shows most get better with painkillers alone.
  • Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats facing us today and the overuse or misuse of antibiotics is making the problem worse. Without effective antibiotics many routine treatments will become increasingly dangerous. Setting broken bones, basic operations, transplants, even chemotherapy all rely on access to antibiotics that work. To slow resistance we need to cut the use of unnecessary antibiotics.

Would you like to become an antibiotic champion? We are currently seeking clinical colleagues who want to become antibiotic champions. This could be nurses, junior doctors, ward managers, registrars, pharmacists, consultants, matrons and pharmacy technicians – anyone who is interested in helping to improve the use of antibiotics at the Trust to improve patient care and limit the spread of antibiotic resistance.

If this is something of interest to you, please see the antibiotic champion information sheet for further details.