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with antimicrobials under the stewardship of pharmacists, they are reserved for patients who actually need them. but in countries like india, antimicrobials can be purchased over the counter. this leads to a risk of unnecessary therapy, especially since there are misconceptions surrounding antimicrobial usage. in a 2015 who survey of about 10,000 people across 12 countries, 64 per cent said they believed antimicrobials can treat viral conditions like the common cold.
prescribers also can also find themselves over-prescribing antimicrobials due to a plethora of reasons, including patients’ demands, inadequate training and fear of malpractice suits .
left unchecked, the consequences will be deadly. a 2014 united kingdom report predicted that antimicrobial resistance could lead to the loss of 10 million lives per year globally.
a promising initiative has been the integration of antimicrobial stewardship teams at hospital sites. in canada and the united states, there has been significant investment in creating teams of pharmacists and physicians dedicated to the optimization of antimicrobial usage . these teams work alongside infectious disease specialists to ensure that patients take the right antimicrobial, at the right dose, the right frequency and for the right duration. as a result, patients receive safer and more effective antimicrobial regimens while reducing the risk of resistance.
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however, with growing resistance to existing antimicrobial agents, more work is needed on the innovation front. there is speculation that the development of polymer compounds may have the potential to replace the role of antimicrobials . this research is still far from complete, but it is the exploration of technologies like these that will pave the way to conquering this growing global threat.