Antibiotic resistance is too often labeled a plague for tomorrow. It’s a pressing problem; at least, until a more pressing problem comes along to overshadow it. But experts say we’re already seeing the consequences of prescribing antibiotics to patients who don’t need them.
The overuse of antibiotics is a key factor driving this antibiotic resistance. It has led to the emergence of superbugs, infections that are resistant to frontline antibiotic treatments. And when a bug becomes smart enough to outwit all available antibiotics, what started as a simple infection can overtake the human body and kill.
But in the midst of a pandemic for which there is no cure, doctors who may have thought twice about overprescribing antibiotics are now scrambling to save patients with few treatments at hand.
For patients already seriously ill with COVID-19, the outcome can be devastating. Valerie Vaughn, a hospitalist and assistant professor at the ...
