Governor Laura Kelly proclaimed Nov. 18-24 as Use Antibiotics Wisely Week in Kansas. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) is asking health care providers and Kansans to use antibiotics wisely to help protect from the threat of growing resistance. This one-week observance led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and joined each year by more than 300 organizations, is an opportunity to promote awareness of antibiotic resistance (AR) and the importance of appropriate antibiotic prescribing and use across the United States. 

“Working together, we must improve the prescribing and use of antibiotic and antifungal drugs and pursue infection prevention actions across the health of humans, animals, plants, and the environment,” KDHE Chief Medical Officer Dr. Dereck Totten said. “Each of us can help prevent the development of new antibiotic resistant bacteria by using antibiotics only when appropriate and as they are prescribed. This will go a long way in helping protect all Kansans.”

KDHE champions using a One Health approach to fight antimicrobial resistance, which recognizes the health of people is closely connected to the health of animals, plants, and their shared environment.  Antibiotic awareness does not mean stopping the use of antibiotics; it means improving the way antibiotics are prescribed and used – when necessary and appropriate. 

 “The purpose of the observance is to raise awareness of the importance of appropriate antibiotic and antifungal use and the threat antimicrobial resistance poses to people, animals, plants and their shared environment,” Totten said.

Each year, more than 2.8 million people in the United States contract AR infections and more than 35,000 of those people die. Kansas is the 10th highest antibiotic prescribing state with 803 antibiotic prescriptions per 1,000 population, and the 11th worst in the nation for implementing antibiotic stewardship programs in our hospitals. Antibiotic stewardship (AS) is the effort to improve prescription and use of antibiotics. It is critical that not only health care providers include AS in their practice, but also that all of become stewards of appropriate use.

Here are ways Kansans can help:

• Wash your hands. This is one of the best ways to prevent or stop the spread of infections.
• Do not request that your doctor prescribe antibiotics.
• Pet owners, try to keep your animals and pets healthy by keeping up with your pet’s vaccines, deworming, and flea and tick control. 
• Only take antibiotics that are prescribed for you and take the whole course as described. Do not share or use leftover antibiotics. Antibiotics treat specific types of infections. Taking the wrong medicine may delay correct treatment and allow bacteria to multiply. 

To learn more about antibiotic resistance, visit CDC.gov/Antimicrobial-Resistance. 

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