2020-03-01 Reader\'s Digest AUNZ

Now doctors canoften advise
patientstowaittwotothreedaysto
seeif anupperrespiratorytractinfec-
tionwillclearofitsownaccord.
Ithasworked.Outpatientantibiot-
icprescriptionsdropped 43 percent
over 24 years, 73 percentamong
children.Therehasalsobeena shift
awayfrombroadspectrum to narrow
spectrumantibiotics,
whichtargetspecific
bugsandreducethe
developmentofre-
sistance.Atthesame
time,levelsofresist-
antbacteria– always
low– haveremained
stable.
The secret of
Strama’s success?
“Feedback,” says
Dr Stephan Sten-
mark, chairman
ofthe StramaPro-
grammeCouncil.“Youmustwork
withcliniciansandshowthemyour
data,notastheantibioticpolicebut
asacolleague.GPswereinvolved
allthewayinthedevelopmentof
nationalguidelines.”
He alsocitestheimportanceofthe
mediainwinningoverthepublic.
“Withoutthemedia,itwouldnev-
erhaveworked.Wewouldn’thave
beenabletoaffordbiginformation
campaigns.”
LisaÖsterlund,50,fromStockholm,
isproofofthechangeinattitudes.The
librarianandmother of three children

canonlyrememberoneoccasionan-

yoneinherfamilyusedantibiotics:

whenhereldestdaughterhad pneu-

moniaattheageofnine.

THEFIGHTAGAINSTANTIBIOTIC

resistanceistakingplaceinother

partsoftheworld,too,suchasin

Singapore, MalaysiaandSoutheast

Asia.InSingapore,

as in many other

countries,upto 50

percentofinfections

acquiredin hospi-

talsareresistantto

front-lineantibiotic

therapies.Thisisil -

lustratedbyahigh

incidenceofmethi-

cillinresistancein

M R S A i n f e c t i o n s

(whicharecausedby

a typeofstaphbac-

teria).BothMalaysia

andSingaporeareamongthecoun-

triesthathavelaunchedactionplans

topreventthespreadofdrug-resist-

antinfections.Theplansaimtore-

ducenationalhumanconsumption

ofantibioticsandthevolumeofanti-

bioticuseinfoodproduction.

Giventhatallantibioticswilleven-

tuallydevelopresistance,thereis

heightenedinterestinfindingalter-

nativeweaponsinthefightagainst

superbugs.Onepossiblesolutionis

bacteriophages.Thesenaturallyoc-

curringvirusesattackbacteriaand

have been popular in eastern and

THERACEIS

ONTOFIND

ALTERNATIVE

WEAPONSIN

THEFIGHT

AGAINST

SUPERBUGS

54 March 2020

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