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Summary
Summary
Virtually everyone has taken antibiotics. They can be lifesavers - and they can be useless. What are they? How are they used? And what happens as the effectiveness of antibiotics continues to decline? Antibiotics: What Everyone Needs to Know® examines the personal and societal implications of our planet's most important - and frequently misused - medications. In a question-and-answer format, it unpacks the most complicated aspects of this issue, including: How antibiotics are used (and overused) in humans, plants, and livestock; the causes and consequences of bacterial resistance to antibiotics; how the globalized world enables antibiotic resistance to spread quickly; and the difficult decisions ahead for both medical care and the food system.Grounded in the latest scientific research and crafted for general readers, Antibiotics: What Everyone Needs to Know® offers a clear-eyed overview of where we are, and what the future holds, as antibiotics lose their power.
Author Notes
Mary E. Wilson, MD, is a renowned leader in global health and infectious diseases. She has diagnosed and treated patients with a wide range of infections, studied the global epidemiology of infectious diseases, and serves as a professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the University of California, San Francisco. She lectures frequently in US and abroad and has published widely on topics in infectious disease and global health.
Reviews (1)
Booklist Review
This fact-packed, easy-to-understand introduction to the world of antibiotics is presented via answers to a series of questions, such as ""How do antibiotics work?"" and ""Is it dangerous to take expired antibiotics?"" Infectious-disease expert Wilson reviews the discovery and development of antibiotics, their mechanisms of action, and how they are used in humans, animals, plants, and aquaculture. Her discussion of antibiotics is also cautionary as she points out possible adverse effects, the influence on the microbiome (unintended destruction of beneficial resident bacteria), and escalation of bacterial resistance. The most commonly prescribed antibiotics in U.S. outpatient situations are azithromycin, amoxicillin, amoxicillin/clavulanate, ciprofloxacin, and cephalexin. Roughly half of antibiotic prescriptions are given for respiratory-tract infections. Global use of antibiotics is rising, but an estimated 30-40 percent are prescribed unnecessarily or inappropriately. Wilson's final two chapters are notable for suggesting methods to reduce the need for antibiotics and presenting newer approaches to diagnosing and treating bacterial infections. Wilson views antibiotics as ""a shared resource, a community property."" When these drugs are employed improperly, their effectiveness and our health are seriously imperiled.--Tony Miksanek Copyright 2019 Booklist