What is it about ?
The bacteria are very small, single-celled organisms (microorganisms), capable of surviving under changing environmental conditions, such as changes in temperature or humidity. They are present everywhere in the environment, but some species also live on living beings, and in particular on humans.
In most cases, the presence of bacteria is not harmful to humans. The bacteria live on the skin and mucous membranes of the mouth, nose, throat, intestine and vagina. All the micro-organisms present are called flora: skin flora, intestinal flora, vaginal flora, etc.
Humans even derive some benefit from the presence of bacteria because they slow down the proliferation of bacteria that can cause disease (pathogenic bacteria). The intestinal bacteria thus prevent dangerous foreign bacteria from establishing themselves in the intestine. The skin and the vagina also benefit from similar protection.
Our body contains good bacteria, but also pathogenic bacteria that our defense system (immune system) keeps under control. When we are contaminated with a pathogenic bacteria and it takes over, we suffer from an infection. In most cases, our own immune system will be able to overcome this infection. But, sometimes it doesn’t. We then have to take drugs that can deactivate bacteria.
The antibiotics are medicines used for the treatment or prevention of bacterial infections. They can either kill the bacteria or slow down its proliferation.
Antibiotics are not helpful for viral infections, such as a cold, stomach flu, or the flu. Their effectiveness is limited to infections caused by bacteria such as, for example, cystitis or pneumonia.
Antibiotics can cause Side effects :
- Antibiotics also work against bacteria that we need, such as bacteria in the gut. They can therefore lead to cramps, nausea and diarrhea.
- Allergic reactions: small red patches on the skin, accompanied by itching or more serious side effects such as difficulty breathing.
- Development of another infection (by fungus), for example vaginal yeast infection.
- Antibiotics can cause resistance (see below).
The choice of antibiotic is determined by different factors:
- The nature of the infection. A bacteria can be sensitive to one type of antibiotic, but not to another. This sensitivity can be tested in the laboratory.
- The place of infection. Pneumonia and cystitis will not be treated with the same antibiotic.
- Known allergic reactions. When a person is allergic to a certain antibiotic, it should therefore not be used.
- Other drugs. Taking more than one medicine at the same time can influence the effect of antibiotics.
- The choice between one and more antibiotics. Some bacteria cannot be destroyed with a single antibiotic, but with a combination of several types of antibiotics.
- The power of a person’s immune system against infections.
The development of resistance
The arrival of antibiotics in medicine, with penicillin in 1940, marked a great turning point in history: it was now possible to defeat a large number of infections and it was believed that these infectious diseases could be eradicated once and for all. . Antibiotics were considered miracle cures. They were used quickly, to excess, and often unnecessarily. Many bacteria have thus developed resistance against the antibiotics used. They have therefore gradually become insensitive to their effect. We are talking about antibiotic resistance.
Resistance became a huge problem and antibiotics started to lose their effectiveness. Even today, resistant infections circulate in our hospitals and healthcare facilities, posing a serious threat to people who are already debilitated.
It is a question of resistance as soon as the antibiotic is no longer able to slow the growth of bacteria or kill bacteria when given at a normal dose. The bacteria are then immune to the antibiotic and you can get seriously ill.
The problem of resistance
We can all carry resistant bacteria, but most of us do not cause illness. However, we can pass these bacteria on to other people who are sensitive to them. Antibiotic resistance poses a great risk to people with weakened immune systems (eg in HIV infection, after organ transplants, in the elderly, in hospital patients, etc.).
If antibiotics are used too often and taken in the wrong way (both in humans and animals), more and more bacteria will become immune to them. In the future, it will therefore be more and more difficult and more and more expensive to fight bacterial infections.
An infection that is easy to treat today could soon lead to serious illness, more hospitalizations and a longer duration of illness. In the worst case, it will no longer be possible to treat bacterial infections, leading to more deaths.
There are already bacteria that are almost impossible to treat with antibiotics, such as the hospital bacteria known by the abbreviation MRSA (methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus).
Reasonable use of antibiotics
Antibiotics should be prescribed with caution. Often your body is able to heal itself from a bacterial infection. In this case, the antibiotics will have little or no effect on the course of the disease.
Antibiotics are not not useful against viral infections, such as a cold and many other upper respiratory tract infections (eg sinusitis), or acute bronchitis, stomach flu or the flu.
They act only for infections caused by bacteria, such as cystitis, pneumonia, or certain sexually transmitted infections such as gonorrhea and chlamydial infection.
If we want antibiotics to remain effective, we need to use them correctly, and only when they are needed. There is no point in taking antibiotics as a preventive measure (except in very special circumstances). Likewise, children may go without antibiotics more often.
What can you do ?
As a patient you must use antibiotics correctly and follow the doctor’s advice.
- Never take antibiotics without a prescription.
- Take the antibiotics at the prescribed time and in the prescribed dose.
- Observe the duration of treatment.
- Stop the treatment only in consultation with the doctor, do not stop it on your own initiative if you feel better after a few days.
- Do not take any antibiotics left over from a previous treatment. Always bring them back to the pharmacist.
You can also help prevent the spread of bacteria from person to person by applying a good hand hygiene. Wash your hands regularly, especially after going to the toilet, before preparing a meal, before eating, after coughing / sneezing, … A simple washing with soap and water eliminates 99.9% bacteria.
Good hand hygiene is even more essential to protect sick people, older people and young children. Indeed, you can carry a resistant bacteria without being sick. In hospitals, nurseries and day centers, a hydroalcoholic solution is also used to disinfect the hands.
Severe diarrhea due to antibiotics
Antibiotics slow down the normal intestinal flora. This can lead to excessive overgrowth of Clostridium difficile, a bacteria found in the gut of healthy people. This bacteria produces toxic substances (toxins) that cause diarrhea. In view of Clostridium difficile’s increasing resistance to almost all antibiotics, infection with this bacterium is increasingly becoming a problem. An experimental treatment by transplanting stool containing normal flora (faecal transplantation) has recently been tested, with promising results.
Want to know more?
- Antibiotics – BAPCOC – Belgian Commission for the coordination of antibiotic policy
- Hand hygiene – SPF Public health, food chain safety and the environment
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