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 This post has been updated. 
 
 Nearly a third of antibiotics prescribed in doctors' offices, emergency rooms and hospital-based clinics in the United States are not needed, according to the most in-depth study yet to examine the use and misuse of these life-saving drugs. 
 
 The finding, which has implications for antibiotics' diminished efficacy, translates to about 47 million unnecessary prescriptions given out each year across the country to children and adults. Most of these are for conditions that don't respond to antibiotics, such as colds, sore throats, bronchitis, flu and other viral illnesses. 
 
 Although health officials have been warning for decades about the overuse of antibiotics and its contribution to the development of drug-resistant bacteria, the research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Pew Charitable Trust is the first to quantify the depth of the problem. 
 
 "We've all been hearing, 'This is a problem, this is problem,' and we all understood the general concept that there is a lot of antibiotic use," said David Hyun, a senior officer with Pew's antibiotic resistance project and one of the authors of the report published Tuesday in JAMA. Pew also published a companion report using the same data. 
 
 "Why this study is so important: It actually provides concrete numbers," Hyun said. 
 
 [CDC warns that Americans may be overmedicating young children with ADHD] 
 
 The study analyzed data for all antibiotic use in the three settings as collected from two major CDC surveys from 2010 to 2011. Antibiotic prescriptions written there represent the majority of dollars spent on antibiotics in this country. 
 
 “Antibiotics are life-saving drugs, and if we continue down the road of inappropriate use we’ll lose the most powerful tool we have to fight life-threatening infections,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden. “Losing these antibiotics would undermine our ability to treat patients with deadly infections [and] cancer, provide organ transplants and save victims of burns and trauma.” 
 
 [‘Looming catastrophe’: These 7 emergency surgeries account for 80 percent of deaths and costs] 
 
 Among the key findings: 
 
 • About 13 percent of all outpatient visits in the United States -- about 154 million visits annually -- result in an antibiotic prescription. 
 
 • More than four in 10 (44 percent) of antibiotic prescriptions are written to treat patients with acute respiratory conditions, such as sinus infections, middle ear infections, sore throats, colds, bronchitis, asthma, allergies, flu, and pneumonia. 
 
 • Half of these prescriptions are unnecessary because many are for viral illnesses. 
 
 Doctors often wind up prescribing antibiotics because of pressure from patients or parents, said Katherine Fleming-Dutra, a CDC medical epidemiologist and report's lead author. 
 
 "Clinicians are concerned about patient satisfaction and the patient demand for antibiotics," she said. But the majority of individuals do trust their doctors to make the right diagnosis, and better communication by doctors about the dangers of antibiotic overuse can lead to more appropriate prescribing, she said. 
 
 An accompanying editorial in JAMA noted that the numbers provided in the report likely are an undercount because they don't include the times antibiotics are given when patients talk to doctors' offices over the telephone, or when patients seek medical care at urgent care clinics, retail pharmacies and dentists' offices. 
 
 Also not included are prescriptions written by nurse practitioners and physician assistants. 
 
 But even relatively simple steps, such as displaying a poster in patient waiting rooms can cut down on antibiotic prescribing, the editorial said. 
 
 The overuse of antibiotics has led to the frightening rise of drug-resistant superbugs in recent years. The CDC has warned that "nightmare bacteria" are increasingly resistant to even the strongest antibiotics, posing a growing threat to hospitals and nursing homes nationwide. 
 
 Last year, the White House announced an aggressive plan to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which already cause an estimated 2 million illnesses and 23,000 deaths every year just in the United States. The administration set a target of reducing inappropriate antibiotic use in outpatient settings by half by 2020. 
 
 Based on the new report, this goal would be reached by cutting outpatient antibiotic use by 15 percent overall, which would result in approximately 23 million fewer antibiotics prescribed annually by 2020. 
 
 Read more: 
 
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 Superbug known as "phantom menace" on the rise in U.S. 
 
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 The most unexpected hospital billing development ever: refunds 
 
 CDC warns that Americans may be overmedicating young children with ADHD 
 
 ‘Looming catastrophe’: These 7 emergency surgeries account for 80 percent of deaths and costs ||||| MAY 02, 2016 
 
 Allison Gilchrist, Associate Editor 
 
 About 30% of all outpatient oral antibiotic prescriptions written in the United States are inappropriate, a new CDC study suggests.CDC researchers used data from the 2010-2011 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey to determine the rates of outpatient oral antibiotic prescribing by patient age and diagnosis, as well as the estimated amount of antibiotic use that could be considered inappropriate.Of the 184,032 outpatient visits included in the data, 12.6% resulted in an antibiotic prescription. The researchers estimated that 353 of the 506 antibiotic prescriptions written annually per 1000 population were appropriate.Broken down further, the data revealed that sinusitis diagnoses resulted in the most antibiotic prescriptions per 1000 population (56), followed by ear infections (47), and pharyngitis (43).“Half of antibiotic prescriptions for acute respiratory conditions may have been unnecessary, representing 34 million antibiotic prescriptions annually,” the researchers wrote. “Collectively across all conditions, an estimated 30% of outpatient oral antibiotic prescriptions may have been inappropriate.”Last fall, the President signed an Executive Order on “detecting, preventing, and controlling antibiotic-resistant microbes” as part of the White House’s 5-year National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria, which aims to reduce inappropriate antibiotic use in outpatient settings by 50% by 2020. Based on the current study results, a 15% reduction in overall antibiotic use would be necessary in order to meet that goal, the researchers noted.Because antibiotic overprescribing contributes to drug resistance, curbing the practice is a major public health care priority. Failure to do so could have grim consequences, as the CDC already estimates that 2 million individuals are infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria each year in the United States, and 23,000 of them die from these infections annually.In one of the more notorious examples , UCLA Health indicated that 179 patients might have been infected with “ superbug ” carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center during “complex endoscopic procedures that took place between October 2014 and January 2015.”“Health professionals generally know when antibiotics are and are not needed,” lead study author Katherine Fleming-Dutra, MD, a medical epidemiologist with the CDC’s Office of Antibiotic Stewardship, explained to Pharmacy Times. “Often, clinicians are worried about patient satisfaction. They think that a patient wants antibiotics…sometimes leading them to prescribe when they shouldn’t.”Pharmacists can help prevent this by providing patients with information about the potential consequences of unnecessary antibiotic use.“Pharmacists are the last health professional to see a patient when an antibiotic is prescribed,” Dr. Fleming-Dutra said. “When dispensing antibiotics, pharmacists can educate patients about properly taking antibiotics and about potential harms from antibiotics such as allergies, adverse events, and antibiotic resistance.”Beyond treating infections, other studies have found that as many as 1 in 10 health care providers prescribe antibiotics for almost every patient they see with a cold or bronchitis, despite the fact that antibiotics aren’t effective against viral infections.“It is important for all health professionals in all regions seeing patients of all ages to only prescribe antibiotics when they are needed, and if needed, select the right antibiotic at the right dose for the right duration,” Dr. Fleming-Dutra advised.The current study results appeared in the May 3, 2016, edition of JAMA. ||||| WASHINGTON—The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released today a first-of-its kind analysis of antibiotic use in doctors’ offices, emergency rooms, and hospital-based clinics in the United States. The analysis, conducted in partnership with a panel of leading antibiotic use experts, identifies acute respiratory conditions as key drivers of antibiotic overuse in human health care and establishes data-driven targets for eliminating the approximately 47 million unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions issued in outpatient facilities across the country every year. 
 
 The findings are outlined in two documents released today: Pew’s report “Antibiotic Use in Outpatient Settings” and “Prevalence of Inappropriate Antibiotic Prescriptions Among U.S. Ambulatory Care Visits, 2010-2011,” an article authored by experts from Pew, CDC, and members of the panel, appearing in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. They outline the baseline analysis and condition-specific targets, as well as practical strategies to improve prescribing. 
 
 “This report provides the most in-depth picture to date of outpatient antibiotic prescriptions in the U.S. and will serve as a benchmark in measuring progress moving forward,” said David Hyun, M.D., a senior officer with Pew’s antibiotic resistance project, who focuses on research and policy development pertaining to the stewardship of antibiotics in health care settings. “While our estimates of unnecessary antibiotic use are conservative, it is clear that a small number of health conditions constitute the lion’s share of unwarranted antibiotic prescriptions in this country. These detailed data will help health care providers target stewardship efforts where they can do the most good.” 
 
 At least 30 percent of antibiotics prescribed in outpatient settings in the United States are unnecessary, according to the report. The majority are prescribed for acute respiratory conditions such as colds, sore throats, bronchitis, flu, and other viral illnesses that do not respond to antibiotics. 
 
 “The more antibiotics are used, the less effective they become. Reducing the needless use of antibiotics will slow the emergence of antibiotic-resistant microbes, so-called superbugs, which are among the most urgent public health threats of our time,” said Kathy Talkington, director of Pew’s antibiotic resistance project. “Patients and health care providers must work together to understand when antibiotics will help and when they won’t, and help preserve these lifesaving drugs for patients who really need them.” 
 
 Antibiotic use in outpatient settings represents the majority of dollars spent on antibiotics for human health care in the United States, and outpatient providers are often the first place patients go for health care when suffering from a cold, flu, sore throat, or other common condition for which antibiotics are often unnecessarily prescribed. 
 
 The analysis concludes that: 
 
 Approximately 13 percent of all outpatient office visits in the United States, or about 154 million visits annually, result in an antibiotic prescription; about 30 percent of these prescriptions are unnecessary. 
 
 Forty-four percent of outpatient antibiotic prescriptions are written to treat patients with acute respiratory conditions, such as sinus infections, middle ear infections, pharyngitis, viral upper respiratory infections (i.e., the common cold), bronchitis, bronchiolitis, asthma, allergies, influenza, and pneumonia. Half of these prescriptions are unnecessary. 
 
 In 2015, the White House released a national action plan for combating antibiotic resistance, which included the goal of reducing inappropriate outpatient antibiotic use by 50 percent by 2020. Based on the panel’s estimate of unnecessary prescribing, this goal would be reached by reducing outpatient antibiotic use by 15 percent overall, which would result in approximately 23 million fewer antibiotics prescribed annually by 2020. 
 
 The panel outlined actions that health care providers, patients, and the health care industry as a whole can take to reach the targets, including: 
 
 Individual outpatient health care providers can evaluate their own prescribing habits as well as implement stewardship activities in their practices. 
 
 Health systems can provide expertise and resources to offices within their network to aid in stewardship implementation. 
 
 Health plans can assist in data collection and analysis—evaluating the antibiotic prescribing habits of their providers and providing feedback that highlights potential areas for improvement. 
 
 State and local health agencies can help provide outpatient facilities with information on best practices for implementing antibiotic stewardship programs, and help develop regional partnerships between various health care stakeholders, such as providers, health plans, and health systems, in order to better coordinate stewardship activities. 
 
 Federal agencies can track antibiotic prescribing at the national level, identifying areas for further improvement and providing technical assistance to stakeholders interested in implementing stewardship efforts of their own. 
 
 Organizations such as the National Committee for Quality Assurance that develop standards to assess the quality of health care services can establish metrics to assess the antibiotic prescribing habits of health care providers. 
 
 Health care professional societies can provide expert guidance to their members on appropriate antibiotic prescribing and incorporating diagnostics to aid in prescribing decision-making. 
 
 “Prescribing unnecessary antibiotics is just one element of inappropriate use of antibiotics,” said Lauri Hicks, D.O., director of the CDC’s Office of Antibiotic Stewardship in the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases. “Health care providers can also prescribe antibiotics at the wrong dose or for the wrong duration, amplifying the extent of inappropriate use. Setting a national target to reduce unnecessary antibiotic use is the first step, and we must work together across the health care continuum to reach this goal.” 
 
 Pew, CDC, and the expert panel are preparing a similar report on inpatient antibiotic prescribing. It will set national targets for reducing unnecessary use in hospitals and will be released in 2017. 
 
 The Pew Charitable Trusts is driven by the power of knowledge to solve today’s most challenging problems. Learn more at www.pewtrusts.org. ||||| The Post's Lena Sun visited Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Silver Spring, Md., where scientists there identified a strain of bacteria resistant to the last-resort antibiotic, colistin. The bacteria was found in a Pennsylvania woman. Microbiologist Patrick McGann explains how his team identified the gene that gives the bacteria this resistance (Monica Akhtar,Lena Sun/The Washington Post) 
 
 For the first time, researchers have found a person in the United States carrying bacteria resistant to antibiotics of last resort, an alarming development that the top U.S. public health official says could mean “the end of the road” for antibiotics. 
 
 The antibiotic-resistant strain was found last month in the urine of a 49-year-old Pennsylvania woman. Defense Department researchers determined that she carried a strain of E. coli resistant to the antibiotic colistin, according to a study published Thursday in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, a publication of the American Society for Microbiology. The authors wrote that the discovery “heralds the emergence of a truly pan-drug resistant bacteria.” 
 
 [How these biomedical detectives identified the dreaded new superbug in U.S.] 
 
 Colistin is the antibiotic of last resort for particularly dangerous types of superbugs, including a family of bacteria known as CRE, which health officials have dubbed “nightmare bacteria.” In some instances, these superbugs kill up to 50 percent of patients who become infected. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has called CRE among the country’s most urgent public health threats. 
 
 Health officials said the case in Pennsylvania, by itself, is not cause for panic. The strain found in the woman is still treatable with other antibiotics. But researchers worry that its colistin-resistance gene, known as mcr-1, could spread to other bacteria that can already evade other antibiotics. 
 
 [Superbug known as ‘phantom menace’ on the rise in U.S.] 
 
 It’s the first time this colistin-resistant strain has been found in a person in the United States. In November, public health officials worldwide reacted with alarm when Chinese and British researchers reported finding the colistin-resistant strain in pigs and raw pork and in a small number of people in China. The deadly strain was later discovered in Europe and elsewhere. 
 
 In this Nov. 2015 video, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Thomas Frieden said that the CDC is committed to fighting antibiotic resistance. (YouTube/CDC) 
 
 “It basically shows us that the end of the road isn’t very far away for antibiotics — that we may be in a situation where we have patients in our intensive care units, or patients getting urinary-tract infections for which we do not have antibiotics,” CDC Director Tom Frieden said in an interview Thursday. 
 
 [1 in 3 antibiotics prescribed in U.S. are unnecessary] 
 
 “I’ve been there for TB patients. I’ve cared for patients for whom there are no drugs left. It is a feeling of such horror and helplessness,” Frieden added. “This is not where we need to be.” 
 
 Separately, researchers at the Agriculture Department and the Department of Health and Human Services reported that testing of hundreds of livestock and retail meats turned up the same colistin-resistant bacteria in a sample from a pig intestine in the United States. USDA said it is working to identify the farm the pig came from. 
 
 CDC officials are working with Pennsylvania health authorities to interview the patient and family to identify how she may have contracted the bacteria, including reviewing recent hospitalizations and other health-care exposures. The CDC hopes to screen the patient and her contacts to see if others might be carrying the organism. Local and state health departments also will be collecting cultures as part of the investigation. 
 
 ['A nightmare superbug': What is it? And what are the risks?] 
 
 The woman was treated in an outpatient military facility in Pennsylvania, according to a Defense Department blog post about the findings. Samples were sent to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for initial testing. Additional testing was done by a special Defense Department system that tracks multi-drug-resistant organisms. 
 
 Thursday’s study did not disclose further details about the Pennsylvania woman or the outcome of her case. The authors could not be reached for comment. A spokesman at the Pennsylvania Department of Health was not immediately available to comment on the case. 
 
 Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolfe (D) issued a statement saying his administration immediately began working with the CDC and the Defense Department to coordinate "an appropriate and collaborative" response. 
 
 [Feds ramp up efforts to deal with antibiotic resistance] 
 
 "We are taking the emergence of this resistance gene very seriously," he said, adding that authorities will take all necessary actions to prevent it from becoming a widespread problem with "potentially serious consequences." 
 
 Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-Pa.) said he is concerned about the reports. In a statement, Casey said he supported legislation for and participated in hearings about antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which he said “present an urgent public health problem that we must focus on intensively.” He said he planned to get a full briefing on the case in the coming days. 
 
 Colistin is widely used in Chinese livestock, and this probably led bacteria to evolve and gain a resistance to the drug. The gene probably leaped from livestock to human microbes through food, said Yohei Doi, an infectious-disease doctor at the University of Pittsburgh who has studied the problem. 
 
 This animated video from 2013 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highlights the key points and graphics of the "Antibiotic Threats in the United States" report. (YouTube/CDC) 
 
 "Food handlers may be at higher risk," he said. In places like China, where live animal markets are often in close proximity to food stalls, it may be more likely for the bacteria to spread from animals to humans. 
 
 He and other experts in infectious diseases called for speedier action to curb the overuse of antibiotics in livestock worldwide. 
 
 "It's hard to imagine worse for public health in the United States," Lance Price, director of the Antibiotic Resistance Action Center and a George Washington University professor, said Thursday in a statement about the case. "We may soon be facing a world where CRE infections are untreatable." 
 
 Scientists rang the alarm bells about the gene in November, but not enough attention was paid. "Now we find that this gene has made its way into pigs and people, and people in the U.S.," Price said. "If our leaders were waiting to act until they could see the cliff's edge -- I hope this opens their eyes to the abyss that lies before us." 
 
 Scientists and public health officials have long warned that if the resistant bacteria continue to spread, treatment options could be seriously limited. Routine operations could become deadly. Minor infections could become life-threatening crises. Pneumonia could be more and more difficult to treat. 
 
 Already, doctors had been forced to rely on colistin as a last-line defense against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The drug is hardly ideal. It is more than half a century old and can seriously damage a patient’s kidneys. And yet, because doctors have run out of weapons to fight a growing number of infections that evade more-modern antibiotics, it has become a critical tool in fighting off some of the most tenacious infections. 
 
 Bacteria develop antibiotic resistance in two ways. Many acquire mutations in their own genomes that allow them to withstand antibiotics, although that ability can’t be shared with pathogens outside their own family. 
 
 [Scientists discover why pancreatic cancer resists chemotherapy drug] 
 
 Other bacteria rely on a shortcut: They get infected with something called a plasmid, a small piece of DNA, carrying a gene for antibiotic resistance. That makes resistance genes more dangerous because plasmids can make copies of themselves and transfer the genes they carry to other bugs within the same family as well as jump to other families of bacteria, which can then “catch” the resistance directly without having to develop it through evolution. 
 
 The colistin-resistant E. coli found in the Pennsylvania woman has this type of resistance gene. 
 
 Public health officials say they have been expecting this resistance gene to turn up in the United States. 
 
 “This is definitely alarming,” said David Hyun, a senior officer leading an antibiotic-resistance project at the Pew Charitable Trust. “The fact that we found it in the United States confirms our suspicions and adds urgency to actions we need to work on antibiotic stewardship and surveillance for this type of resistance.” 
 
 Late last year, as part of a broader budget deal, Congress agreed to give hundreds of millions of dollars to the federal agencies engaged in the battle against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. 
 
 The largest chunk of that money, more than $150 million, was slated to go to the CDC as part of an effort to build and strengthen capacity at state and local health departments to prevent and monitor superbug outbreaks. 
 
 Other funding went to the National Institutes of Health for research on combating antimicrobial resistance, as well as to an agency known as BARDA, which works on national preparedness for chemical and biological threats, including developing new therapies. 
 
 Read more: 
 
 Superbug investigation: 'It’s likely we will find more of these,' CDC says 
 
 What we know so far about the superbug in the Pennsylvania case 
 
 Fight against superbugs gets dramatic funding boost under congressional budget plan 
 
 Why the United States is so vulnerable to the alarming spread of Zika virus 
 
 7 things about vaccines and autism that the movie ‘Vaxxed’ won’t tell you 
 
 Is 10,000-steps goal more myth than science? Study seeks fitness truths through our phones and more 
 
 With Memorial Day and summer travel coming up, it’s time to get serious about Zika 
 
 Like our Health & Wellness page on Facebook for more science news about the ins and outs of the human body and mind, essays and advice. You can sign up here for our newsletter. ||||| A particularly dangerous type of CRE bacteria is on the rise in the U.S. (Courtesy of CDC) 
 
 This post has been updated. 
 
 A particularly dangerous superbug, dubbed the "phantom menace" by scientists, is on the rise in the United States, according to a report Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 
 
 This superbug's strains belong to the family of bacteria known as CRE, which are difficult to treat because they are often resistant to most antibiotics. They are often deadly, too, in some instances killing up to 50 percent of patients who become infected, according to the CDC. Health officials have called CRE among the country's most urgent public health threats. 
 
 The target of Thursday's report is relatively new. Unlike more common types of CRE, it carries a plasmid, or mobile piece of DNA, with an enzyme that breaks down antibiotics. And what makes these bacteria even more dangerous is their ability to transfer that plasmid--and that antibiotic resistance--to normal bacteria that are present in our bodies. 
 
 [Amid superbug worries, these states have the highest antibiotic prescribing rates] 
 
 This type of CRE has had a lower profile because it's actually less antibiotic-resistant than other more common types of CRE. As a result, it hasn't been a frequent focus of testing and has largely escaped detection by health officials, prompting some researchers to dub it "the phantom menace." 
 
 "This is a tricky drug-resistant bacteria, and it isn't easily found," CDC Director Thomas Frieden said in an interview. "What we're seeing is an assault by the microbes on the last bastion of antibiotics." 
 
 Bacteria develop antibiotic resistance in two ways. 
 
 Many can evolve their own genome in ways that deactivate antibiotics, although that ability can't be shared with pathogens outside their own family. 
 
 Yet other bacteria rely on a shortcut: They get infected with a plasmid carrying the resistance gene. That makes them more dangerous because plasmids can make copies of themselves and transfer within a family of bugs and as well as jump to other families of bacteria, which can then "catch" the resistance directly without having to develop it through evolution. 
 
 In a related alarming development, Danish researchers announced Thursday that a dangerous new superbug gene discovered in China two weeks ago had been found in bacteria infecting one person in Denmark. The gene makes the bacteria resistant to colistin, the antibiotic of last resort. And similar to the 'phantom menace' type of CRE, the gene is contained in a plasmid. 
 
 Experts warned that the latest development was frightening. "History shows that these mobile resistance genes can spread around the world quickly, silently riding in people, animals and food," said Lance Price, director of the Antibiotic Resistance Action Center at George Washington University's Milken Institute of Public Health, in a statement. 
 
 He said the news that the superbug gene first found in China has now turned up in Denmark "suggests that this scenario is playing out in real time," he said. 
 
 [A superbug emerges in China] 
 
 CDC received reports counting at least 43 patients in 19 states with this type of CRE superbug between June 2010 and August 2015. All cases were confirmed by CDC. Although the numbers are relatively small, Frieden said they are "just the tip of the iceberg." There was one patient with this type of superbug in 2010 and 11 patients each year in 2013, 2014 and 2015. 
 
 Most U.S. clinical laboratories that test for CRE organisms wouldn't identify this particular type of bacteria because it's not part of standard testing. CDC changed its definition of the organism in January to help increase detection. 
 
 CRE stands for carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. 
 
 Read more: 
 
 CDC says ‘nightmare bacteria’ a growing threat 
 
 Extra funding sought to fight antibiotic resistant bacteria 
 
 One day, doctors might prescribe viruses instead of antibiotics 
 
 White House opens antibiotic summit 
 
 Chipotle CEO pledges to make restaurants ‘safest place to eat.’ Here’s his plan.
– Scientists have been concerned for some time about "Phantom Menace"-type superbugs that aren't fazed by meds. The latest CDC data finds that 2 million people a year in the US are infected with bacteria resistant to antibiotics, and at least 23,000 die directly from those infections. And a new report from the CDC and the Pew Charitable Trusts—the first research to quantify this issue, per the Washington Post—isn't encouraging. A study published Tuesday in JAMA finds nearly one in three antibiotic prescriptions (around 47 million per year) are given needlessly to people with viruses such as bronchitis and the common cold, as well as for ear and sinus infections and sore throats not caused by bacterial infections—meaning the Rx not only won't vanquish their illness, but can potentially build up antibiotic resistance, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Besides the drug resistance, overuse can up the risk for drug allergies and even an unpleasant-sounding diarrhea that can be fatal. The researchers analyzed 184,032 outpatient visits to ERs and medical clinics in 2010 and 2011 and found that 12.6% walked out with an antibiotic script, per the Pharmacy Times. Out of an estimated annual antibiotic-prescription rate of 506 per every 1,000 people, only about 353 of those who received prescriptions should likely have received them. The Times notes President Obama's initiative to cut down on unnecessary outpatient antibiotic use by 50% by 2020; researchers say that, based on this study, we'll need to slash overall antibiotic use by 15% to meet that. "If we continue down the road of inappropriate use we'll lose the most powerful tool we have to fight life-threatening infections," CDC Director Tom Frieden says. "Losing these antibiotics would undermine our ability to treat patients with deadly infections [and] cancer, provide organ transplants, and save victims of burns and trauma." (Here's hoping teixobactin can help us out with superbugs.)