Home Local News St Helens GPs and Council support campaign to keep antibiotics working

St Helens GPs and Council support campaign to keep antibiotics working

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St Helens Council’s Public Health team and local GPs are supporting Public Health England’s ‘Keep Antibiotics Working’ campaign which highlights the dangers of taking antibiotics when you don’t need them.

St Helens Council’s Public Health team and local GPs are supporting a new campaign which highlights the dangers of taking antibiotics when you don’t need them.

Public Health England’s ‘Keep Antibiotics Working’ campaign has been introduced to raise awareness to the estimated 5,000 deaths caused every year in England as a result of antibiotics no longer working for some infections.

In St Helens last year, one in five people had an antibiotic in the previous three months, the highest rate in the in the North West.

Antibiotics are an important tool for doctors and healthcare professionals to help treat serious bacterial infections, such as pneumonia, meningococcal meningitis and sepsis, and help ward off infections during chemotherapy, caesarean sections and other surgery.

However, antibiotics are being used for everyday viral infections, such as colds or flu, where they are not effective and can cause harm.

Dr Joe Banat, local GP and board member of St Helens CCG said: “Antibiotics are needed for serious bacterial infections but don’t work for everyday viral infections such as cold and flu. Many people ask their GP for antibiotics when they aren’t needed. If you take antibiotics when you don’t need them, the dangerous bacteria inside you can become resistant to antibiotics. This means they are less likely to work for you when you really need them.”

St Helens Council’s Interim Director for Public Health, Sue Forster added: “40 per cent of people in the North West don’t realise that if someone has taken antibiotics in the last year, any infection they get is more likely to be antibiotic resistant. They can also pass on antibiotic resistant bacteria to loved ones. St Helens Council and CCG are working with local
GPs to reduce the number of antibiotics prescribed unnecessarily and support the Public Health England campaign to help people become aware of the dangers of taking antibiotics.”

For further information on antibiotic resistance please search NHS Antibiotics or visit www.nhs.uk/keepantibioticsworking.

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