Responsible Use of Antibiotics (Doctrina)

Despite the development of new antibiotics and vaccines, infectious diseases are still the third most common cause of morbidity, even in developed countries of Europe and North America.

Antibiotics, used to treat bacterial infections through inhibition of bacterial growth, or outright destruction of bacteria, are called antimicrobial antibiotics.

More accurately, antibiotics refer to drugs, developed from natural sources, such as other fungi, bacteria, or lichen, while synthetically developed antibacterials can also be called chemotherapeutics.

Antibiotics are divided into classes and generations according to their chemical structure, mechanism of action, and the sort of bacteria that they work on.

However, 700.000 people are reported to die globally due to bacterial resistance to antibiotic. It is estimated that by 2050, more people will die to bacterial resistance to antibiotics than due to cancer and traffic accidents combined 1 to 3% of all patients are taking antibiotics right now. Therefore the course will focus also on how we could tackle the problem of antimicrobial resistance. Additionally we will discuss aminoglycosides, cephalosporins, macrolides, ketolides, lincosamides, tetracyclines, sulfonamides, trimethoprim and nitrofurantoin.

Start the course and learn about:

- What are antimicrobial antibiotics?

- How do antimicrobial antibiotics work?

- How can we stop bacterial resistance to antibiotics?

- Which antibiotic to choose?

- What are the most common considerations in prescribing antibiotics to children?

- Why are infections the fourth most common cause of mortality in the elderly?

You Will Also Learn About:

- Aminoglycosides - effective, yet toxic

- Cephalosporins- an excellent alternative for patients allergic to penicillins

- Macrolides, ketolides, lincosamides - atypical antibiotics

- Tetracyclines - useful even in resistant bacteria

- Sulfonamides, trimethoprim, nitrofurantoin -the urinary tract trio

...and much more.