GP practices across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight are highlighting the importance of reducing the use of antibiotics where appropriate to ensure they work when we really need them.
The NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board (ICB) is also supporting the World Health Organisation’s message of "Preventing antimicrobial resistance together".
Saturday 18 November marks the start of World Antimicrobial Resistance Awareness Week (WAAW) which runs each year from 18 – 24 November. The week is all about raising awareness about antibiotic resistance and why reducing our use of antibiotics is important to everyone.
Neil Hardy, Associate Director for Medicines Optimisation at NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board, said: “If you, or your child, become unwell with a viral infection this winter, such as a cold, a stomach bug or most sore throats and coughs, antibiotics won’t help you get better quicker. These infections usually get better on their own with rest, fluids and over-the-counter remedies. To quote an NHS video that our GP practices are displaying this World Antimicrobial Resistance Awareness Week, ‘taking antibiotics for a cold or flu is as effective as using a fish as a phone!’”
“Antibiotics are essential for treating or preventing certain bacterial infections, for example during cancer treatments or routine operations, and it is so important we save them for when they are really needed. Overuse of antibiotics means that the bacteria can become resistant, and antibiotics stop working. This resistance not only impacts the person with the infection, but also their family, friends, and potentially the whole population. Resistant bacteria, including “superbugs” like MRSA and Clostridium difficile, are so dangerous because antibiotics don’t work on them. They are spread by surface contact and person-to-person contact, so washing our hands regularly with soap and water (especially before eating, after going to the toilet, and after coughing/sneezing) is very important.”
As well as regular handwashing, you can also support your local NHS and help you, and those around you, stay well this winter by:
- checking you and your family have had all your immunisations.
- catching coughs/sneezes in a tissue (and binning it).
- only taking antibiotics when you need them, when advised by your GP or other prescriber.
- following your GPs advice, or other prescriber, if you are prescribed antibiotics, by always taking them as advised and never sharing them with others.
There are of course many cases where taking antibiotics are necessary so, please follow your prescriber’s advice.
For more information on common infections, and symptoms of a serious illness when medical advice should be sought urgently from 111 or your GP, please visit the NHS website.
A short video of Dr Paul Howden, a GP at Whitely, talking about Antimicrobial Awareness Week can be found here: Antimicrobial Awareness Week 2023 – Dr Paul Howden
Parents and young people can also find a wealth of winter health advice on many common conditions on the Healthier Together website.
Information on how to keep ‘Winter Strong’ is also available on the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board website.