Preventing Antibiotic Resistance – We All Have a Role to Play

Today, infections with antibiotic-resistant bacteria have become increasingly common in healthcare and community settings. Antibiotic development is dwindling. Learn what patients and healthcare providers can do to prevent antibiotic resistance.

Antibiotic resistance occurs when germs change in a way that reduces or eliminates the effectiveness of the drugs available to treat them. Many bacteria have now become resistant to more than one type or class of antibiotic and widespread overuse and inappropriate use of antibiotics is fueling resistance that compromises the effectiveness of important patient treatments. Overuse of antibiotics also increases the problems of drug side effects, allergic reactions, diarrheal infections caused by Clostridium difficile, or even death.

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So, what can we do to prevent antibiotic resistance? We all have a role to play. Patients, healthcare providers, hospital administrators, and policy makers must work together to employ effective strategies for improving antibiotic use – ultimately improving medical care and saving lives.

Here's how you can help:

How Patients Can Protect Themselves from a Drug-Resistant Infection

• Take antibiotics exactly as the doctor prescribes. Do not skip doses. Complete the prescribed course of treatment, even if you start feeling better.
• Only take antibiotics prescribed for you; do not share or use leftover antibiotics. Antibiotics treat specific types of infections. Taking the wrong medicine may delay correct treatment and allow bacteria to multiply.
• Do not save antibiotics for the next illness. Discard any leftover medication once the prescribed course of treatment is completed.
• Prevent infections by practicing good hand hygiene and getting recommended vaccines.
• Do not ask for antibiotics when your doctor thinks you do not need them. Remember antibiotics have side effects. When your doctor says you don't need an antibiotic, taking one may do more harm than good.

How Healthcare Providers Can Help

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Healthcare providers can address antibiotic resistance and have a tremendous impact on protecting patients. There are several steps providers can take to prevent drug-resistant germs from infecting their patients or being spread in their healthcare facilities.

Prescribe correctly

• Do not treat viral infections with antibiotics, even when patients ask for them.
• Prescribe the right antibiotic at the right dose for the right duration; be familiar with resistance trends in your region.
• Avoid unnecessary overlaps in antibiotics. It is not usually necessary to give two antibiotics to treat the same bacteria.

Collaborate with each other and with patients

• Talk to your patients about appropriate use of antibiotics.
• Include microbiology cultures when placing antibiotic orders.
• Work with pharmacists to counsel patients on appropriate antibiotic use, antibiotic resistance, and adverse effects.
• Utilize patient and provider resources offered by CDC and other professional organizations.

Stop and assess

• Take an "antibiotic timeout" when a patient's culture results come back in 24 to 48 hours. Stop and assess the use of antibiotics, using them only when indicated to avoid promoting the development of resistance among bacteria and unnecessary antibiotic exposure.

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Embrace antibiotic stewardship

• Improve antibiotic use in all facilities—regardless of size—through stewardship interventions and programs, which will improve individual patient outcomes, reduce the overall burden of antibiotic resistance, and save healthcare dollars.

How Healthcare Facility Administrators and Payers Can Help

• Make appropriate antibiotic use a quality improvement and patient safety priority.
• Focus on reducing unnecessary antibiotic use, which can reduce antibiotic-resistant infections, reduce Clostridium difficile infections, and reduce costs, while improving patient outcomes.
• Emphasize and implement antibiotic stewardship programs and interventions for every facility – regardless of facility setting and size.
• Monitor Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®) performance measures on pharyngitis, upper respiratory infections, acute bronchitis, and antibiotic utilization.

CDC Commentaries for Clinicians on Antibiotic Resistance

• Antimicrobial Resistance Across the Continuum of Care: Winning the War One Battle at a TimeCME/CE
• CDC Commentary: Don't Give In and Give Those Antibiotics!
• Three Steps to Antibiotic Stewardship
• Carbapenem Resistance in the United States: What Should Clinicians Do?
• CDC Commentary: Preventing Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae
• CDC Commentary: Testing for Clostridium difficile Infection
• CDC Commentary: Dr. Alex Kallen

More Information

• Press release
• Media Fact Sheets
• Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work
• Get Smart for Healthcare
• Get Smart Week