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.  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 report ranked the 18 threats (bacteria and fungi) into three categories based on level of concern to human health—urgent, serious, and concerning—and identified: 
 
 Minimum estimates of morbidity and mortality from antibiotic-resistant infections 
 
 People at especially high risk 
 
 Gaps in knowledge about antibiotic resistance 
 
 Core actions to prevent infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and slow spread of resistance 
 
 What CDC was doing at that time to combat the threat of antibiotic resistance 
 
 The data below is pulled from the 2013 Threats Report. “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. “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.” 
 
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 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. 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.
– 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.)