The American College of Physicians along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published on Monday new guidelines on what kinds of treatments can be prescribed for common respiratory ailments such as common colds, blocked noses and sore throats, that peak during winter. They specifically recommend that a lot of the commonly inappropriately prescribed antibiotics not be prescribed.
The most commonly prescribed prescription drugs for these kinds of ailments are antibiotics. Antibiotics worked well before and were able to fight off bacteria and pathogens that other kinds of drugs couldn't. However, according to the CDC and the American College of Physicians, we are now at a point when the quantum of antibiotics that are being prescribed has reached epidemic proportions, according to The Ottumwa Courier.
"Antibiotics are terrific. Thank God we have them for really bad things. But we need to be judicious in the way we use them," said Dr. Wayne J. Riley, president of the American College of Physicians and professor of internal medicine at Vanderbilt University, according to ABC News.
One of the factors that has contributed to this situation is that the over-prescription and over-consumption of antibiotics has meant that the pathogens have become resistant and immune to the power of the antibiotics. Hence, just prescribing and consuming antibiotics in the same manner as before doesn't work any longer as the pathogens have become drug-resistant.
A second factor that has contributed to reservations regarding the use of antibiotics is the occurrence of side effects. Often, these antibiotics have side effects like severe diarrhea.
Rather than prescribe antibiotics for these kinds of common symptoms, the new guidelines recommend treatments like throat lozenges, acetaminophen, aspirin and ibuprofen, according to the Associated Press.