The second-hand effects of antibiotics: communicating the public health risks of drug resistance.

ABSTRACT: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a threat to modern medicine, but there are challenges in communicating its urgency and scope and potential solutions to this growing problem. It is recognized that AMR has a 'language problem' and the way in which healthcare professionals communicate about AMR may not always resonate with patients. Many patients are unaware that antibiotics can have detrimental effects to those beyond the recipient, due to transmission of drug-resistant organisms. The overestimation of benefits and underestimation of risks helps to fuel demand for antibiotic use in situations where they may be of little or no benefit. To better communicate risks, clinicians may borrow the term 'second-hand' from efforts to reduce smoking cessation. We present several examples where anti

SUBMITTER: Langford BJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8210052 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature