What worries you most?

I worry that many of us don't realize the seriousness of antibiotic resistance and see these serious drugs as something pretty benign. Many of us ask healthcare providers for antibiotics when we are ill because we think they will make us feel better faster. We need, instead, to get to a place where we understand these are powerful drugs and that their overuse comes with a significant cost. If bugs become resistant, we may not have any antibiotics that work when we actually need them. As healthcare consumers we need to instead be asking, do I need this antibiotic?

- Therese Phin, RN, CIC, LTC-CIP, MDRO Infection Preventionist at Oregon Health Authority

Our microbiome is incredibly important and affects each of us in ways we are still discovering. Antibiotics alter that milieu and may have unexpected consequences. Bacteria are clever and will develop resistance if exposed to enough antibiotics. I want for everyone to have the availability of treatment for an infection if they acquire one. Antibiotics given to others affect all of us, as we know people share resistance patterns in their community.

- Amy Dechet, MD, Infectious Diseases Physician, Faculty of Internal Medicine Residency Program at Portland Providence Medical Center

Of course, I worry about the real human toll of antibiotic resistant infections. People are already dying from untreatable resistant infections. But I also worry that there may not be enough awareness of the breadth of modern medicine that relies on antibiotics. I really worry when I consider the implications if we lose effective antibiotics—What surgeries will become too dangerous? Will organ transplants be possible? What about the 1.2 million women who have cesarean sections every year?

- Liz Breitenstein, PharmD, Antimicrobial Stewardship Pharmacist at Oregon Health Authority

There are currently multidrug-resistant infections for which we have no treatment options.  Misuse of antibiotics supports the spread of these infections.  Currently many of these infections impact people who are initially seeking care for other things—people who get secondary infections after surgery or having a traumatic injury. I fear that we will revert to the pre-antibiotic era, where millions of people will die annually because we lack the treatment options to care for people.  We desperately need more research—not only to develop new antibiotics—but also research focused on alternative treatment strategies, diagnostics, and implementation practices that will help prolong our ability to effectively treat infections.

- Jessina C McGregor, PhD, Professor, Oregon State University College of Pharmacy