FDA Urges Consumers to be 'Smart' about Antibiotic Use

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has teamed up with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to support Get Smart About Antibiotics Week (Nov. 15-21).

This year, millions of antibiotics will be prescribed. Antibiotics can be used to treat bacterial infections; however, they are commonly over-prescribed. Patients sometimes ask their health care professional to prescribe antibiotic drugs for viral infections, like the common cold, despite the fact that they will not work and may lead to potentially harmful side effects. The misuse of antibiotics has contributed to one of the world's most pressing public health problems today, antibiotic resistance.

Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria change in a way that reduces or eliminates the effectiveness of antibiotic drugs.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has teamed up with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other health care professional,  government, academic, international and industry partners to support Get Smart About Antibiotics Week(Nov. 15-21) as part of a joint effort to encourage the appropriate use of antibiotics.