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Antibiotic resistance is a major public health problem, and all patients
-- regardless of if they're healthy or have multiple chronic conditions --
are at risk for developing resistant bacterial infections.
Decreasing inappropriate antibiotic use is important to me because
I have had multiple patients with resistant infections -- and these are healthy patients.
I've also had patients with antibiotic-associated adverse drug reactions -- and serious ones,
such as Stevens-Johnson syndrome and development of Clostridium difficile. Every time a pharmacist
recommends an over-the-counter medication and counsels a patient on appropriateness
of antibiotic use, that helps us reach our target. We are all responsible for the appropriate
use of these lifesaving medications. We should all be antimicrobial stewards.