And countries should ensure that people can’t buy antimicrobials 💊over the counter without a doctor’s prescription.
Health 🩺 professionals everywhere should practice responsible use of antimicrobials 💊 and prescribe antimicrobials only when needed, because misusing these drugs is harmful to patients and to public health.
Antimicrobials 💊 have also been misused outside of hospital settings.
Drugs such as Ivermectin, Azithromycin and Chloroquine were broadly used as unproven treatments, even after we had strong evidence that they had no benefit to COVID patients.
@DirOPSPAHO #COVID19
Limited availability of gloves and gowns, and changes in cleaning and disinfection practices were other factors that led to infections 🦠 spreading more quickly.
@DirOPSPAHO #COVID19
A rise in the use of invasive procedures such as intubation or ventilation, the use of antimicrobials 💊 and other drugs, overcrowding, and underlying conditions such as diabetes or obesity increased the risks for patients for bacterial and fungal infections
Let’s not forget that health facilities have been overwhelmed by the COVID-19 pandemic 🦠
Many ICUs operated at 2-3 times their capacity.
In fact, that’s exactly what we’re seeing: thanks to the overuse and misuse of antibiotics 💊 and other anti-microbials, we risk losing the drugs we rely on to treat common infections.
Across our 🌎, several countries, including Argentina, Uruguay, Ecuador, Guatemala, & Paraguay are reporting surges in detection of drug-resistant infections that have likely contributed to the rise in mortality we’ve seen during the pandemic in hospitalized patients
Our recent Epidemiological Alert noted the emergence of bacteria resistant to last-resource antimicrobials 💊, with a magnitude and complexity that were not previously described.
@DirOPSPAHO #COVID19
Antimicrobials 💊 are crucial life-saving drugs, but they must be used responsibly since bacteria 🦠 can develop resistance and render these drugs ineffective over time.
@DirOPSPAHO #COVID19
