return the antibiotic to children after recovery!
Family Medicine and Allergy Consultant, Dr. Khaled Bawaked, called on all families who are prescribed antibiotics to their children when they are sick, to safely dispose of the vial after the treatment period, and not to keep the vial in the refrigerator as some do and reuse again after days or weeks in the event that they believe that The child has been exposed to the same infection after a period of time On the pretext of not going to the hospital, and that the validity of the antibiotic is still continuing in terms of productivity.
He said, coinciding with the World Antimicrobial Resistance Awareness Week, when prescribing an antibiotic for children or adults, the treatment period must be adhered to, and if the antibiotic is liquid - which is prescribed to children - the vial must be disposed of after the treatment period Repeated use is not beneficial because all its properties have changed after keeping it for a long time in the refrigerator, and if re-used it may expose the child to health problems, including the possibility of diarrhea.
Bawaked explained that antibiotics are medicines used to prevent and treat bacterial infections, and antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria change in response to the use of these medicines, and this harms our ability to treat diseases, and bacteria - not humans - become resistant to antibiotics, and these bacteria can cause They infect humans and animals, and the infectious diseases they cause are more difficult to treat than those caused by non-resistant bacteria. When antibiotics are not used correctly and safely The bacteria then become resistant and unaffected by the antibiotic. As a result, the drugs are ineffective against the bacteria This means that the disease persists and the risk of transmission to other people increases.
He said: "In the case of the virus, antibiotics are not prescribed, unlike bacteria that must be taken to eliminate bacteria. In the case of a bacterial infection, the patient is given antibiotics, and each type of bacteria has its own antibiotic, and the duration of antibiotics varies between the strength of the infection, its location and the age of the patient, Each type of antibiotic has its own characteristics and power to fight bacteria.”
He stressed that the Kingdom - represented by the Ministry of Health - succeeded in dealing with antibiotics by setting regulations and regulations to ensure that antibiotics are not dispensed without a prescription Strict penalties, including imprisonment and fines, were set, and this contributed to eliminating the problem of dispensing antibiotics without a prescription.
As for the wrong uses of antibiotics Its most prominent implications are: excessive consumption of antibiotics, their use in inappropriate doses, failure to complete the prescribed treatment period for inflammation, and their use in cases that do not need an antibiotic, according to Bawaked.
