In the event of an infection, antibiotics are routinely prescribed to alleviate the infection by killing the culprits responsible, specifically the bacteria. However, we now know that bacteria avoid being destroyed by blocking the antibiotic from entering the site of the infection; by altering the target site (the location of the infection) to the extent that the antibiotic is not effective; by generating mutations of themselves that then become resistant bacteria; or by exchanging molecules with non-resistant bacteria, making these non-resistant bacteria resistant to the antibiotic. Further, there are now strains of bacteria that are resistant to several antibiotic drugs; these multi-drug resistant bacteria, called super bugs, once associated with vulnerable populations such as patients in nursing homes, organ transplant patients, and patients with HIV, have made their way to the population at large.¹

Bacterial resistance to antibiotic drugs is related to the number of times a particular antibiotic is used; and in some instances, the size of the dose. All of us can remember times that we made a physician appointment with a cough or cold or earache with one purpose in mind, to leave the office with a prescription for an antibiotic. Such expectations combined with the belief that an antibiotic is the sole solution for treating an infection are responsible for millions of prescriptions for antibiotics each year. These prescriptions may or may not be helpful and over time contribute to drug resistance.² Conversely, antibiotic prescriptions are always issued with the caveat that the drug should be continued until the prescription is completed. In the usual instance, this means taking the antibiotic three-to-four times a day for a week to ten days; however when people start feeling better they may think that they can stop taking the antibiotic, saving it for another time when they may need to take it again. This is not wise and here is why. In the initial days of treatment, only the weakest of the bacteria are eliminated; thus when a person stops taking the medication earlier than prescribed, the net result is that strong, increasingly resistant bacteria survive.