Expert: For antibiotic resistance, 500 people die annually

Due to infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria, about 500 people die annually, according to experts. According to a poll of pharmacies, one in a half of the doctors in antibiotic hospitals are poorly prescribed, some of them being abusively used. The information was provided at a press conference on the European Week of Antibiotics. The Czechs consume around 15 million packages of antibiotics per year.

Data from the State Institute for Drug Control shows that doctors too often choose broad-spectrum antibiotics. Patients are unnecessarily exposed to side effects and bacterial resistance to antibiotics increases, "said Michal Prokeš, a member of the Central Antibiotic Coordination Group, according to experts. Doctors, unlike other countries, have no feedback if they prescribe antibiotics correctly.

A major problem is the antibiotic resistance of bacteria for treatment in hospitals. According to the head of the national reference laboratory for antibiotics Helena Žemličková, up to three quarters of the bacteria in treatment hospitals are resistant. Over the past ten years, the number of these infections has increased almost twice. According to Prokš estimates, 486 people died in the Czech Republic in 2015 due to these infections.

According to Michal Trojanek of the Department of Infectious Diseases of the Postgraduate Health Education Institute, 20 to 50% of hospital antibiotics are currently poorly prescribed. The basic problem is that doctors do not treat antibiotics as important drugs, he said. It differs depending on the effect on living microorganisms, which are extremely dynamic. If antibiotics destroy only a few bacteria, only those with resistance genes will continue to spread.

According to a survey of the Czech Pharmacy Chamber, which is taking place in the ninth week of the European Week of Antibiotics, more than 11% of adults do not take antibiotics for prescription and almost every tenth keep unused antibiotics for potential needs . One-fifth of parents believe that antibiotics in children accelerate recovery from cold, and nearly a quarter consider treating the doctor inappropriate if they do not prescribe cold medication, but recommends regimens only.