OCR Text |
Show Is- I s ' j f . . 5 i f : , - ' : Ji libiodic use ! J medicine j explained , note The following tll,0rSf a series of articles "e by the Utah State :5li'h, ssoeiation and pub-f pub-f cooperation with the iUe Herald. These ar-scheduled ar-scheduled to appear " other week throughout L in an effort to better : Lt you with problems of !f and designed to im-' im-' the well-being of the Mof ttah. ..-ibiotics ( -e literai meaning of anti-. anti-. is, to be opposed to, or t-t ' life. To millions of s ',' 'jjjg word has come to Elder John C. Judd, son of Dr. and Mrs. Clair W. Judd, who will fulfill mission mean "Life Saving." From a little known biological curiosity curios-ity two decades ago, antibiotics have become a commonly accepted ac-cepted means of reducing human hu-man suffering and of saving countless lives. The large group of substances substan-ces known as antibiotics have some characteristics in common. com-mon. These characteristics of antiobiotics, ability to destroy bacteria, effect on the human body, and ability of bacteria to develop resistance, are important im-portant in the application of these substances in the treatment treat-ment of human disease. Before an antibiotic is prescribed pre-scribed it is necessary for the physician to ascertain which bacteria could be responsible for the particular disease so he may prescribe the proper antibiotic. Then he will wish to prescribe or administer the drug in appropriate amounts over a sufficient period of time so that resistant forms of the bacteria will not be developed devel-oped within the patient. In some cases clinical judgement will not be sufficient and the physician will find it necessary to obtain substances from the patient, such as blood, sputum or pus, which can be cultured, or grown, in the laboratory. The ability of bacteria to become resistant to inadequate dosages of antibiotics is of extreme importance. In the brief number of years since our first successful antibiotic, penicillin, was first introduced, many diseases of vital importance import-ance to mankind, which were at first successfully treated with penicillin have become resistant to its effect. This resistance re-sistance has recently received much publicity in the case of hospital-type infections with staphylococcus. It is generally felt that much of this lost effectiveness ef-fectiveness of penicillin is due to the promiscous use of small amounts of the substances in gum, cough drops, toothpaste, etc. We must make certain that this type of mistake is not made with our newer medications. medi-cations. Another characteristic of antibiotics an-tibiotics of importance to the patient is their ability to produce pro-duce allergic reactions. An allergic al-lergic reaction is an abnormal and unwanted reaction on the port of the body to fireign substance, sub-stance, in this case an antibiotic. antibio-tic. This reaction may vary from a mild itching at the site of an injection to a generalized general-ized reaction which can even lead to death. These sensitivities sensitivi-ties frequently result from previous use of the same or similar substances or in rare cases, may be present for no obvious reason. |