Keeping Antibiotics Working
Antibiotic prescribing, and action to avoid antimicrobial resistance, has become an area of focus for the NHS across Cheshire and Merseyside. Working with our colleagues in local authority Public Health teams and Public Health England, we are highlighting that antibiotics don’t work for everything, they can only be used to treat or prevent some types of bacterial infection. We are spreading the message that antibiotics don’t work for viral infections and, when it comes to antibiotics, people should take the advice of their doctor.
If we don’t act on the inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics there will be serious consequences for society. Taking antibiotics when you don’t need them encourages dangerous bacteria that live inside you to become resistant. That means that antibiotics may not work when you next need them most. This puts you and others at serious risk. The overuse of antibiotics in recent years means they're becoming less effective and has led to the emergence of "superbugs". These are strains of bacteria that have developed resistance to many different types of antibiotics. These types of infections can be serious and challenging to treat, and are becoming an increasing cause of disability and death across the world. The biggest worry is that new strains of bacteria may emerge that can't be effectively treated by any existing antibiotics. So, this is very much a case of “the doctor knows best”.
Friday 17 February 2017
Friday 3 February 2017
There is only One You
There is only One You
Public Health England has recently launched a
campaign called One You. The campaign focuses on the changes we
can all make in our lives that will help us stay healthier for longer, and
provides some practical suggestions and support to help. The campaign,
supported by a website and smartphone applications, looks at helping people
makes changes in their lifestyle.
Whether they are eating the wrong
things, drinking more than they should, continuing to smoke despite everything
they know, or just not being active enough, all of these small things can add
up to an unhealthy you. The website is really easy to use and contains a
health quiz so that each individual can assess what they need to do to take
more control of their health.
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