# 5044
Next week (Nov 15th-21st) the CDC will launch its yearly awareness campaign for the appropriate use of antibiotics.
With the steady rise in MRSA, and other antimicrobial resistant strains of bacteria (including the newly identified NDM-1 gene), concerns over the misuse of antibiotics are at an all time high.
About the Get Smart Campaign
On This Page
- Why CDC has an appropriate antibiotic use campaign
- Campaign objectives
- Focusing on upper respiratory infections
- Target audiences of the campaign
- Campaign activities
- Campaign staff
- Awards the campaign has won
- Getting involved in the campaign
Why CDC has an appropriate antibiotic use campaign
Antimicrobial resistance among respiratory pathogens has become a common clinical problem, and the association of resistance with the use of antimicrobial drugs has been documented in both inpatient and outpatient settings. The Institute of Medicine has identified antibiotic resistance as one of the key microbial threats to health in the United States and has listed decreasing the inappropriate use of antimicrobials as a primary solution to address this threat. For this reason, antibiotic resistance is among CDC's top concerns.
Campaign objectives
CDC launched the National Campaign for Appropriate Antibiotic Use in the Community in 1995. In 2003, this program was renamed Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work in conjunction with the launch of a national media campaign. This campaign aims to reduce the rate of rise of antibiotic resistance by:
- promoting adherence to appropriate prescribing guidelines among providers,
- decreasing demand for antibiotics for viral upper respiratory infections among healthy adults and parents of young children, and
- increasing adherence to prescribed antibiotics for upper respiratory infections.
The target audience for these messages are primarily healthcare providers and parents of small children, who generally have an expectation of getting antibiotics for their children whenever they are seen for common (often viral) infections.
Admittedly, not all doctors are in complete agreement with what the CDC considers to be the `appropriate use’ of antibiotics.
Which is one of the reasons why the CDC is targeting clinicians as well in this campaign.
You’ll find a variety of podcasts available on the CDC’s Get Smart Campaign Online Materials webpage.
Podcasts
Antibiotics, When and When Not to Use Them
Listen To This Podcast (2:00 minutes)In this episode of Medical Discovery News, medical experts talk about when and how to use antibiotics the right way.
Date Released: 10/3/2009
Too Much of a Good Thing (A Cup of Health with CDC)
Listen To This Podcast... (4:14)In this podcast, a CDC expert discusses the dangers of overusing antibiotics.
Date Released: 10/1/2009
Too Much of a Good Thing (A Minute of Health with CDC)
Listen To This Podcast... (0:59)
This podcast discusses how the use of antibiotics has increased significantly for many infections and how many common conditions can be overcome by simply treating the symptoms and letting the illness run its course.
Date Released: 10/1/2009
Next week, I’ll have more on this campaign. In the meantime, you can get more information at these sites.
Related Links
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