Antibiotics and Colds and Flu Don't Mix

Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services
For Immediate Release:
September 16, 2003

Contact:
Mark Buxton
Antibiotic Resistance Education Coordinator
573-751-6062

Antibiotics are the wrong medicines for colds and flu. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) is joining the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a new campaign to help build awareness about appropriate antibiotic use as another cold and flu season approaches.

The nationwide campaign is called: Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work. The educational effort's key message is a basic medical fact: antibiotics do not effectively treat colds, flu and other viral illnesses. Antibiotics do not kill viruses, make patients with viral infections feel better, yield a faster recovery or keep others from getting sick.

CDC estimates that as much as 50 percent of antibiotics prescribed are unnecessary.

"Antibiotics are wonderful medicines, but they only kill bacteria," said Mark Buxton, antibiotic resistance education coordinator for DHSS. "Antibiotic overuse is ruining antibiotic effectiveness. Many people do not realize that antibiotics are useless against viruses."

Widespread inappropriate use of antibiotics is fueling an increase in drug-resistant bacteria that threaten widespread drug-resistant illness. Over the last decade, almost every type of bacteria has become stronger and less responsive to antibiotic treatment when it is needed. These antibiotic resistant bacteria can quickly spread, introducing a new strain of infectious disease that is more difficult to cure and more expensive to treat.

"The good news is that people can fight antibiotic resistance by taking simple steps," said Buxton. "One of the best steps is not to waste antibiotics on viruses like colds and flu."

The new Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work Campaign will provide public service advertisements that add to a long-term statewide effort to combat and track antibiotic resistance. DHSS has worked with local health departments, private industry, coalitions and statewide organizations to create and distribute educational materials and encourage appropriate antibiotic use.

CDC will officially launch the nationwide campaign September 17 at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy in Chicago.

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