AAFP joins CDC in urging prudent antibiotic use -- October 2003 -- FP Report

WEB EXTRA!

AAFP joins CDC in urging prudent antibiotic use

BY TONI LAPP

Campaign materials available

For more information about the "Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work" campaign, including background materials on antibiotic resistance in the community and educational tools available to fight this problem, go to http://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/community/.

When it comes to prescribing antibiotics, the customer is not always right. That was the message sent by CDC and AAFP leaders Sept. 17 in Chicago.

Emphasizing the seriousness of the growing problem of antibiotic resistance, the leaders spoke during the launch of the "Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work" campaign. Representatives from the FDA and American Academy of Pediatrics, also partners in the public education campaign, participated as well.

Richard Besser, M.D., CDC medical director for the campaign, explained the CDC's primary goal in spearheading the campaign: "We would like to see the day when instead of requesting an antibiotic, patients ask for the best care for their illness."

Michael Fleming, M.D., chats with a reporter at the CDC press conference Sept. 17.

To this end, the campaign will largely be directed at parents of young children, Besser said, because antimicrobial drug overuse is highest among children. Of particular concern to parents is otitis media in children; the AAFP and AAP are currently collaborating to develop treatment guidelines for this ailment, he noted.

AAFP President-elect Michael Fleming, M.D., of Shreveport, La., was on hand to offer the Academy's perspective and stressed that one out of every four children is treated by a family physician. "Symptoms like runny nose, cough, fever, headache and muscle aches may be bothersome, but antibiotics will not make them go away any faster," he said.

Fleming also addressed the issue of patient expectations: "Family physicians are under a great deal of pressure to prescribe unnecessary antibiotics by patients and worried parents who mistakenly think that while the antibiotics may not help, they can't hurt. But they can hurt. Antibiotics taken inappropriately can harm patients, especially those with chronic or multiple illnesses. And they harm us all in the long run as we create antibiotic-resistant bacteria that will become harder and harder to combat."

The press event drew a diverse group of journalists, including representatives from the Associated Press, Bloomberg News, The (London) Times, Nature, Science News, Scripps Howard News Service, United Press International and The Wall Street Journal.

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