Mycoplasma bacteria in Taiwan is resistant to more than 70 percent of antibiotics, forcing children with medical issues to use second-line drugs, an infectious disease expert said today at a Taipei event kicking off a traveling exhibition on antibiotics.
Although antibiotics have greatly reduced the risk of death from infectious disease, their incorrect use has led to drug-resistant bacteria evolving, leading doctors to warn that Taiwan may face a future without much of the medicine available today, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said in a speech at Taipei Medical University Hospital (TMUH).
Photo: AP
He also called for the responsible use of antibiotics and called drug resistance a “silent pandemic."
As World Antibiotic Awareness Week approaches next month, TMUH, along with the CDC, the Infectious Diseases Society of Taiwan and the Infection Control Society of Taiwan, are holding a traveling exhibition on antibiotics hosted on a bus.
Taiwan cannot avoid this issue, as antibiotic resistance is a global problem that results in more medical expenditures, longer hospitalizations and seriously threatens the well-being of patients, Chuang said.
Antibiotic resistance has tripled in the past 10 years and many patients fail to respond to first-line drugs, leading to estimates that by 2035, life expectancy may shorten by 1.8 years, TMUH Adult Infectious Disease Division director Chuang Han-chuan (莊涵琄) said.
Antibiotic resistance has already begun affecting patients outside of clinical trials and hospitals, spreading to outpatient clinics and pediatrician offices, Chuang Han-chuan said.
Taking the recent mycoplasma outbreak as an example, more than 70 to 80 percent of the bacteria were resistant to drugs, forcing doctors to prescribe second-line drugs to children who in the past would have recovered within three days of using first-line antibiotics, she added.
To solve this issue requires the coordination of the pharmaceutical industry, the government, academia and the public, Infectious Diseases Society of Taiwan president Wang Fu-te (王復德) said.
Starting from next year, government agencies are to collaborate on issues such as whether wastewater affects antibiotic resistance, he added.
Wang called on the public to use antibiotics properly as he gave examples of how resistance to drugs can increase, such as people sharing their antibiotics with friends, choosing to buy their own medicine or not properly following doctors’ instructions.
After today's event at TMUH, the traveling exhibition is to visit several other hospitals over the next month.
The exhibit features several activities to raise awareness and remind people to follow doctors’ instructions on the use of antibiotics.
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