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Show High Rates of Antibiotic Resistance Have Been Found In Rural Utah And Idaho PANGUITCH -Research Assistant O. Bricklan Despain with the University of Utah has submitted a series of five articles arti-cles regarding research being conducted on "antibiotic resistance" resist-ance" in communities throughout through-out Utah and Idaho. Bricklan is associated with the Inter-Mountain Inter-Mountain Project on Antimicrobial Resistance and Therapy (IMPART) at the U of U. Antibiotic Resistance Did you know that four out of ten children in your community carry disease-causing bacteria? And did you realize that 40 percent per-cent of that bacteria is resistant to antibiotics? If this sounds threatening, it should. This is what is being discovered all around the country including Panguitch. Antibiotic resistant infections can be deadly, especially espe-cially for young children and the elderly. In addition, resistant infections cost US citizens $30 billion dollars in extra health care costs each year. In an effort to fight antibiotic resistance, the Centers for Disease Control and Preventiori (CDC) have funded researchers at the University of Utah to implement the Inter-Mountain Project on Antimicrobial Resistance and Therapy (IMPART). The aim of IMPART is to study and monitor the spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria throughout Utah and Idaho. In cooperation with pharmacies, pharma-cies, clinics, and community members, the IMPART study team recently tested children in rural areas for resistant bacteria. They found that 41 percent of the bacteria found in healthy children were resistant to antibiotics. antibi-otics. The study also found that children were more likely to have a resistant form of bacteria if they had recently taken antibiotics antibi-otics or if a sibling had recently taken antibiotics. One of the most important things that can be done to slow antibiotic resistance is to avoid unnecessary antibiotic use. The CDC has estimated that up to 50 percent of antibiotic prescrip tions are unnecessary. This means that doctors frequently prescribe and patients pay for medications that are not needed. People who take antibiotics for colds, flu or bronchitis, feel just as sick for just as long as those who don't. In other words, antibiotics will not reduce the length or severity of viral infections. infec-tions. Here are some tips suggested by doctors and the researchers with IMPART to protect yourself your-self and your family from antibiotic antibi-otic resistant infections: You can help prevent antibiotic antibi-otic resistance. Don't use antibiotics for viruses like colds, bronchitis, and the flu. Don't request antibiotics from your doctor. Throw away unused antibiotics. antibi-otics. Never save or share your antibiotics. Take antibiotic prescriptions precisely as directed by your doctor. Continuing to misuse antibiotics antibi-otics will produce bacteria resistant to more and more drugs. Unless something is done soon, this cycle -will continue con-tinue until there are no longer any antibiotics available to treat bacterial infections. To learn more about what can be done to stop antibiotic resistance go to To learn more about IMPART or to request information, call us at 1-801-585-7067. |