The COVID-19 pandemic has brought on a new wave of additional antibiotic treatments. | Adobe Stock
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought on a new wave of additional antibiotic treatments. | Adobe Stock
Recent studies indicate that increased usage of antibiotics for COVID-19 treatment may have resulted in the development of antibiotic immunity, according to a report by BioWorld.
Dr. Matthew Blair, a physician from Gulf Coast Breathe Free Sinus & Allergy Center, said there is "some risk" that individuals may develop resistance to an antibiotic if it is used for an extended period of time.
"That risk is if you get that same infection somewhere else, your standard antibiotics may not work, leading you to have to take stronger antibiotics, IV antibiotics or something of that nature," Blair told North Panhandle News.
Blair said that another risk associated with antibiotic resistance in bacteria is the possibility of disease transmission.
"Bacteria can spread to other people, too, unfortunately," he continued. "So if you create antibiotic resistance in bacteria, you can give it to your family member or to the community itself; so that's one of the fears of using antibiotics too often.
A study that examined the long-term results of balloon dilation, one of the treatments performed at Gulf Coast Breathe Free Sinus & Allergy Center, discovered that the average number of antibiotic courses given to a sinus patient were approximately 4.5 per year before treatment but decreased to 1.6 per year after treatment, according to a study published in the medical journal The Laryngoscope. So one way to avoid overusing antibiotics is for chronic sinus sufferers to have a balloon sinuplasty, a minimally invasive procedure that is done in the doctor's office and has a high rate of effectiveness and short recovery period.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that between one-third and one-half of all antibiotic usage in humans is "unnecessary or inappropriate," according to Mayo Clinic.
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