Urges not to be interested in antibiotics / Article / LSM.lv

Doctors from Riga East Clinical University have prepared new guidelines for the correct use of antibiotics. Uncontrolled and irresponsible use of antibiotics in the long term / causes significant damage to human health and also reduces the effectiveness of antibiotics. The new guidelines will be introduced to GPs and also to colleagues in regional hospitals.

Public awareness of the use of antibiotics is often superficial. We tend to take antibiotics even when we shouldn’t, but the second mistake is that when you feel better, a person stops taking the medicine and starts taking it another time, and that is irresponsible. Doctors also tend to make mistakes. Ten years ago, at Riga East Hospital (RAKUS), infectologists studied how colleagues had prescribed these strong medications and at the time concluded that in 20% of cases, antibiotics had been prescribed incorrectly.

“Several colleagues prescribed antibiotics for the same diseases, which was not the right choice. Antibiotics were prescribed when antibiotics were not needed at all. The same flu that everyone knows is not treated with antibiotics. Also different viral infections,” RAKUS said. Head of Infection Surveillance Service Māris Liepiņš.

And naturally, the first booklet was made ten years ago – recommendations for the use of this drug. The fourth has been published this week, which includes the latest information, and the hospital wants to share it. Because, as it turns out, by paying more attention to these issues, the number of unjustifiably or incorrectly prescribed antibiotics in the hospital has even halved.

Medical professionals and GPs are also often the first to prescribe antibiotics first. Therefore, the aim of this booklet is to educate not only the general public, but also doctors on how to prescribe this medicine more responsibly. “I have a work experience of 20 years, and now antibiotics are prescribed much less, in my opinion. It is subjective. I do not keep any statistics, but feel less,” said family doctor Ilona Timchenko.

Family doctor Timchenko categorically does not agree that doctors prescribe drugs maliciously or clumsily. For example, at Kuldīga Hospital, the guidelines for the use of antibiotics developed by the Eastern Hospital are already in use, and the latest recommendations are definitely being read. It is also observed that these medicines are being prescribed less and less often. “Once it was more common than can be observed. I can answer specifically for the Kurzeme region, and the fact is that the population has also become more educated and understands that viruses and colds are not treated with antibiotics,” said a member of the board of Kuldīgas slimnīca Ltd. Chief Physician Svetlana Seprāne.

Meanwhile, doctors and also in the Eastern Hospital emphasize that quite often antibiotics are left for the population from a disease when they were needed, but are used at another time by self-medication. I, when I come, for example, on a home visit, I see that the patient is already taking antibiotics. Where did he get them? Hard to say. This can be dangerous, “stressed Timchenko.

Using unnecessary antibiotics puts you at risk. Both side effects risk, because no drug can be without side effects. Maybe someone will be fine, but for someone it can cause quite a lot of problems and can end up in the hospital due to side effects. And second, the more antibiotics you take, the faster the level of antibiotic resistance increases.

And this means that at other times, when antibiotics are really needed, they may not work effectively enough.

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