Overusing Anitbiotics

Director of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy Ramanan Laxminarayan's penicillin keynote explains how antibiotics are being overused in today's society. He urges us to address this growing problem in order to treat future outbreaks.

While penicillin has proved to be a life-changing drug that can completely reverse the effects of several infections and illnesses, many medical professionals are prematurely prescribing the antibiotic to treat minor cases. According to Laxminarayan, the constant intake of antibiotics into the human body will render them useless for future treatment of infections. He says, ""We do not consider the costs imposed on others by the way antibiotics are actually used." This is because the constant intake of antibiotics, whether through food or medical dosage, has rendered our bodies slowly immune to the workings of the drug. Antibiotic resistance and the future of treating diseases is a key issue that we will need to address in the upcoming years.