{"id":7499,"date":"2022-11-16T12:02:37","date_gmt":"2022-11-16T16:02:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.cdc.gov\/safehealthcare\/?p=7499"},"modified":"2022-12-16T14:56:18","modified_gmt":"2022-12-16T18:56:18","slug":"seeing-the-potential-harm-of-antibiotic-overuse-clearly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cdc.gov\/safehealthcare\/seeing-the-potential-harm-of-antibiotic-overuse-clearly\/","title":{"rendered":"Seeing The Potential Harm of Antibiotic Overuse Clearly"},"content":{"rendered":"

This blog is a part of a series that CDC launched to highlight the importance of patient safety by providing educational information and simple ways to help people stay informed on public safety topics. Read the blog below, authored by Christian John Lillis, to learn more about the potential harms of antibiotic overuse.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Image
Christian John Lillis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The widespread use of penicillin, which began during World War II, forever changed the history of medicine. The ability to treat infections and prevent their spread increases average life expectancy [PDF – 150 Pages]<\/a>\u00a0and allows healthcare providers to perform interventions that had previously been considered too risky. From surgery to chemotherapy, antibiotics have made modern medicine possible.<\/p>\n

I benefited from the availability of tetracyclines when I had an infection that caused scarlet fever at the age of six. Before antibiotics, outbreaks of scarlet fever devastated communities, often causing significant mortality among children under ten<\/a>. While I may very well have survived without them, there is no doubt that antibiotics have made scarlet fever far less dangerous, saving innumerable lives and reducing its burden nationwide.<\/p>\n

While antibiotics have been a modern marvel for the latter half of the 20th<\/sup> century, they still carry risks. My mother, Peggy, was a healthy 56-year-old kindergarten teacher who was a single parent to my brother and me. Following a root canal, her dentist prescribed the antibiotic clindamycin. Four days into the course, she came down with urgent diarrhea. We didn\u2019t connect her gastrointestinal symptoms to the antibiotic until her symptoms were so severe that we had to take her to the hospital. There, the doctors quickly recognized that our mother had toxic megacolon caused by bacteria called Clostridioides difficile<\/em> (C. diff<\/em>) and my mother was in septic shock. We learned that in most cases, a C. diff<\/em> infection is precipitated by using an antibiotic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"image
Peggy Lillis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Despite the doctors’ best efforts, our mother passed away on April 21, 2010. We were stunned and devastated. A treatment meant to prevent infection led to a fatal one. In the wake of her death, we learned that tens of thousands of Americans die from a C. diff<\/em> infection every year [PDF – 2 Pages]<\/a>.\u00a0We also learned that nearly half of all antibiotic use is unnecessary or inappropriate in outpatient settings in the United States<\/a> and that people are seven to ten times more likely to get C. diff<\/em> while on antibiotics and during the month after<\/a>. Worse, we\u2019re not innovating much in the development of new antibiotics to replace those rendered useless by antimicrobial resistance, and we\u2019ve lost focus on infection prevention [PDF – 44 Pages]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In 2010, I co-founded the Peggy Lillis Foundation (PLF)<\/a> with my brother to help increase awareness of C. diff<\/em> and the potential risks of antibiotics. PLF has built a nationwide C. diff<\/em> awareness movement by educating the public, empowering advocates, and shaping policy. PLF has shared C. diff<\/em> stories from patients around the world to do our part to improve patient safety.<\/p>\n

We have also provided tools and resources, like our C. diff<\/em> Nutrition & Lifestyle Guide<\/a> and C. diff<\/em> Care Guide<\/a>, for patients and families, healthcare providers, and advocates to assist with the physical and mental aspects of recovery from a C. diff <\/em>infection.<\/p>\n

\"Image
Peggy, Christian, and Liam Lillis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

C. diff<\/em> can affect anyone, but there are actions we can take to reduce these infections including:<\/p>\n