Health initiative counters misuse

Not completing an antibiotic prescription can help bacteria become resistant.
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
WARREN -- More and more bacteria are becoming resistant to traditional antibiotics, making it harder to treat and kill the infections they cause, local health officials say.
The Community Health Care Initiative has begun a campaign to alert the general public and physicians to the dangers of overusing antibiotics and of prescribing them for the wrong illnesses.
"The right drug for the right bug" is the unofficial slogan of CHCI's campaign. Officially, the effort is called: "Get Smart -- Use Antibiotics Wisely."
The danger, according to Lew Hutchinson, CHCI board member and spokesman, is the lessening effectiveness of antibiotics as overuse causes the bacteria to become drug-resistant.
According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, virtually all important bacterial infections are becoming resistant to antibiotics.
Skyrocketing resistance
Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, often referred to as "staph," is a bacterium commonly found on the skin and in the noses of healthy people. Sometimes staph causes infections, most of which can be treated without antimicrobial agents (also known as antibiotics or antibacterial agents).
However, staph bacteria can also cause serious and sometimes fatal infections. In the past, most serious staph bacterial infections were treated with a type of antimicrobial agent related to penicillin. Over the past 50 years, treatment of these infections has become more difficult because staph bacteria have become more resistant to the drugs.
Locally, the incidence of resistant strains in area hospitals has skyrocketed over the past five years, Hutchinson said.
About five years ago, less than 25 percent of staph infection strains were resistant to methicillin-type antibiotics, said Hutchinson, Forum Health corporate director of environmental health and safety.
Today, while it varies from hospital to hospital, in general 50 percent to 60 percent of staph infections are resistant to methicillin antibiotics, Hutchinson said.
The main causes are overuse and misuse, said Hutchinson, and the community health-care initiative group wants to "draw a line in the sand" before methicillin antibiotics become more compromised and doctors have to go to the current last line of defense, a class of drugs called vancomycin.
There have been very few cases of vancomycin-resistant staph bacteria in the world, and that is the way health-care organizations, including the CDC, say they want to keep it.
"Our task is to educate patients' awareness of proper antibiotic application. If this is accomplished, it should alleviate the pressures on physicians to prescribe, as well as increase awareness about appropriate antibiotic usage," Hutchinson said.
'Serious problem'
"Bacteria resistance to antibiotics has become a serious problem nationally and in the community. About 35 percent of antibiotics are prescribed for medical conditions for which they are not effective," said Sam Shalaby, director of Community Health Care Initiatives/General Motors.
"The frightening reality of national statistics compels us to address this problem," said Ken Senter, director of Community Health Care Initiatives/United Auto Workers.
An example of antibiotics misuse is prescribing them for the flu. Antibiotics do not work on viruses.
"If antibiotics are prescribed when they are not needed or ineffective, all we are doing is contributing to drug-resistant bacteria," Hutchinson said.
He said the average resident can help the campaign by talking to a doctor about which antibiotics are appropriate and not pressuring physicians to prescribe drugs when they are not effective or needed.
Also, he said people should take the full course of antibiotics when they are prescribed. Taking only a partial course may not completely kill the bacteria and may instead help the surviving bugs become resistant to that drug, he said.
About the organization
The Community Health Care Initiative of Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull Counties was developed in 1998 by the United Auto Workers of America and General Motors.
It is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing quality health services, promoting disease and accident prevention and improving the health status of community residents. It comprises business, labor, health-care providers, health plans and government and community agencies.
The group's infectious disease work group, the primary focus of which is to reduce the inappropriate use of antibiotics and the spread of bacterial resistance to antibiotics, is made up of representatives of Forum Health, Anthem Blue Cross & amp; Blue Shield, GM, Trumbull County Department of Health, Mahoning County District Board of Health, Salem Community Hospital, Humility of Mary Health Partners, Ohio KePRO, Warren City Health Department, UAW, and Youngstown City Health Department.
The community health-care initiative received funding from Anthem Blue Cross & amp; Blue Shield, Forum Health, GM, Humility of Mary Health Partners, Pfizer and the Raymond J. Wean Foundation.
alcorn@vindy.com