Don't Take This The Wrong Way…

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WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Anyone can get a drug-resistant infection, so AMR is a problem for us all.1

There are three simple things you can do to be a part of the solution.

Speak with your healthcare professional about whether or not you need antibiotics, as diagnostic tests can help

Did you know antibiotics only work on bacteria? This means they won’t work on infections caused by viruses, such as common colds, runny noses, most sore throats and the flu.2 If you don’t have a bacterial infection, antibiotics will not make you feel better.2

If you think you have an infection, speak with your healthcare professional. They will assess your symptoms and can ask for a diagnostic test to check whether you have a bacterial infection.3 The results of these tests can help them understand which bacterial infection you have, and which antibiotic is best to treat it.3

If you take antibiotics when you don’t need them, you risk making them less effective for everyone.1

Always take antibiotics as prescribed and finish the full course

Always take antibiotics exactly as discussed with your healthcare professional. It might be tempting to stop taking them as soon as you feel better, but it’s important to take the full course to make sure the bacteria causing your illness have been fully treated.4 If you stop your treatment early, you might help spread antibiotic-resistant traits in harmful bacteria, which worsens the global AMR problem.4 You may also need to start treatment again, at a later stage, if you don’t take the antibiotic as prescribed.4

Dispose of unused antibiotics responsibly and never share your antibiotics with someone else

You might have antibiotics left over – for example, if your doctor stopped your treatment and switched you to a different medicine.

Do not throw these antibiotics away or flush them down your sink or toilet. This could lead to antibiotics leaking into the environment (e.g. rivers and soil) and could worsen AMR in plants and animals.5 This directly affects human health too.6

Do not share these antibiotics with friends and family or save them for a later illness. They may not be the correct type of medicine for your symptoms, and antibiotics should always be used under the guidance of a healthcare professional.4

Take your leftover antibiotics back to your local pharmacy, where they can dispose of them responsibly.7

Are you ready to take action? Take our AMR knowledge quiz:

This quiz is completely anonymous and no personal data is stored. All responses will be pooled together and collective results will be shared with the organisers of the campaign for their information only (Pfizer, bioMerieux, UK Sepsis Trust, Sepsis Alliance and Instituto Latino Americano de Sepse).

World AMR Awareness Week

World AMR Awareness Week (WAAW) is a global campaign led by the World Health Organization, running from 18th to 24th November every year.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between antimicrobials and antibiotics?
  • Antimicrobials are a group of medicines used to treat infections in humans, animals and plants. Antibiotics are a type of antimicrobial, specifically for bacterial infections. Other antimicrobials include antivirals (for viruses), antifungals (for fungi) and antiparasitics (for parasites).8
What causes antimicrobial resistance (AMR)?
  • Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs naturally, as bacteria and other microbes evolve and mutate over time. However, the process is sped up by human factors like the overuse and misuse of antibiotics, poor sanitation and hygiene and limited access to vaccines, diagnostics and medicines.8 It is also impacted by things like climate change, which causes some infectious diseases to spread faster.9
What is a drug-resistant infection?
  • A drug-resistant infection is an infection that does not respond to available medicines, making it harder to treat. This happens because of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), where organisms that cause the infection (bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites) become more resistant to treatment over time.1
  • It is the organism that becomes resistant to treatment, not the person who has the infection.1
What is sepsis and why is it linked to AMR?
  • Sepsis is a life-threatening condition, where the body’s immune system overreacts to an infection and starts to attack its own tissues and organs. To date, there is no single sign or diagnostic test for sepsis. Globally, it claims 11 million lives per year. 10 
  • Almost any infection can cause sepsis, but not every infection will. Bacterial infections are the most common cause of sepsis. That is why effective antibiotics are so important in the treatment and management of sepsis.11 
How do diagnostic tests help address AMR?
  • Antibiotics only treat bacterial infections, which means they will not work for infections caused by viruses, such as common colds, runny noses, most sore throats and the flu.12 A healthcare professional can help you understand what type of infection you have. 
  • Diagnostic tests help healthcare professionals identify the cause of the infection and choose the correct type of medicine.3 For life-threatening conditions like sepsis, it is critical to choose the right medicine quickly.13 
  • Diagnostics also have an important role in preventing infections and monitoring potential outbreaks.14,15  
Can we develop new antibiotics to treat drug-resistant infections and address AMR?
  • A big part of the fight against AMR includes the development of new antibiotics to treat the drug-resistant ‘superbugs’ as a consequence of overuse of existing antibiotics. However, developing a new antibiotic can cost more than $1 billion and take 10 to 15 years.16  
  • At the current rate, we are running out of antibiotics faster than we can develop new ones.17 This is why it is so important to use existing antibiotics responsibly – speaking with healthcare professionals about whether or not we need them, taking them as prescribed and finishing the full course, and disposing of them responsibly. 
  1. Wellcome. (2024). What is antimicrobial resistance – and how we prevent it? Available from: https://wellcome.org/news/what-antimicrobial-resistance-and-how-do-we-prevent-it [Accessed November 2024]. 
  2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Healthy habits: antibiotic do’s and don’ts. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/antibiotic-use/about/index.html  [Accessed November 2024]. 
  3. Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (GLASS). (2016). Diagnostic Stewardship: A guide to implementation in antimicrobial resistance surveillance sites. World Health Organization, Geneva. Available from: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/WHO-DGO-AMR-2016.3 [Accessed November 2024]. 
  4. Mayo Clinic. Antibiotics: are you misusing them? Available from: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/consumer-health/in-depth/antibiotics/art-20045720 [Accessed November 2024]. 
  5. Antibiotic Research UK. (2021). How do I dispose of unused antibiotics? Available from: https://www.antibioticresearch.org.uk/ufaq/how-do-i-dispose-of-unused-antibiotics/ [Accessed November 2024]. 
  6. World Health Organization. (2024). Action against antimicrobial resistance requires a One Health Approach. Available from: https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/376479/WHO-EURO-2024-9510-49282-73655-eng.pdf?sequence=1 [Accessed November 2024]. 
  7. Antibiotic Research UK. What can I do to help prevent antibiotic resistance? Available from:  https://www.antibioticresearch.org.uk/about-antibiotic-resistance/what-can-i-do/ [Accessed November 2024]. 
  8. World Health Organization. Antimicrobial resistance. Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/antimicrobial-resistance [Accessed November 2024]. 
  9. Magnano San Lio, R. et al. (2023). How Antimicrobial Resistance Is Linked to Climate Change: An Overview of Two Intertwined Global Challenges. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 17; 20 (3):1681. Available from: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/3/1681 [Accessed November 2024]. 
  10. The UK Sepsis Trust. What is sepsis? Available from: https://sepsistrust.org/about-sepsis/ [Accessed November 2024]. 
  11. The UK Sepsis Trust. Sepsis FAQs. Available from: https://sepsistrust.org/about-sepsis/faqs/ [Accessed November 2024]. 
  12. Mayo Clinic. Antibiotics: are you misusing them? Available from: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/consumer-health/in-depth/antibiotics/art-20045720 [Accessed November 2024]. 
  13. NHS. Treatment and recovery: sepsis. Available from: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/sepsis/treatment-and-recovery/ [Accessed November 2024]. 
  14. Carragher, F. (2017). The use of diagnostics in addressing antimicrobial resistance. NHS England.  
  15. World Health Organization. Antimicrobial Resistance Diagnostic Initiative. Available from: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240072015 [Accessed November 2024]. 
  16. Wellcome. (2023). Why is it so hard to develop new antibiotics? Available from: https://wellcome.org/news/why-is-it-so-hard-develop-new-antibiotics [Accessed November 2024]. 
  17. Global AMR R&D Hub & World Health Organization. (2023). Incentivising the development of new antibacterial treatments: Progress report by the Global AMR R&D Hub and WHO 2023. Available from: https://globalamrhub.org/publications/incentivising-the-development-of-new-antibacterial-treatments-2023/ [Accessed November 2024].