Antibiotic prescription given within two months of previous prescription of antibiotics increases the chance of carrying medication resistant bacteria by almost double than in people who were given antibiotics after almost a year.
It was always suggested that high levels of taking antibiotics are harmful to health as they may encourage the risk of having superbugs. This is the first study that assesses the risk to individuals developing antibiotic resistance.Super bugs are a new kind of microorganisms, mainly bacteria by nature, which may not be affected by a wide range of antibiotics.
The researchers from Bristol University who did the study said that resistance was tested in the urinary sample of 3000 people. Urinary E coli bacteria was found in low concentrations and were demonstrated as resistant to the antibiotic amoxicillin, or trimethoprim, or both. Antibiotics taken prior to twelve months of the last treatment did not made the bacteria resistant to antibiotics. However use of antibiotics in the past two months almost doubles the effect of being resistant on the bacteria.
The study was aimed to understand if the GPs prescribing antibiotics can lead to the patients developing resistant bacteria, or not.
Reference: Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy
