
An infectious disease expert has warned against indiscriminate antibiotic use, saying that nearly half the antibiotics Australians use ,are prescribed inappropriately. This issue figures on the agenda at the Australian Society for Antimicrobials annual scientific discussion meeting in Sydney.
Microbiologist John Turnidge, of the Adelaide Women's and Children's Hospital, said that this trend of antibiotic overdose has led to an increase in drug-resistant infections.
Prof Turnidge has expressed disspaointment that the federal government has not risen to the occasion with respect to this problem."We're pretty high antibiotic users, we use twice as much per capita as countries like Denmark and the Netherlands.We know that they don't have any less infections than we do so it tells you immediately that half the antibiotics we use in humans in this country are inappropriate." Professor Turnidge said in an interview.