We'll just have to stop being so antiseptic all the time.

We've become accustomed to sterility, and our bodies don't adapt to the bugs we encounter. I attribute this to the rise in allergies and so on over the past couple of decades.

We need to let our kids eat mud if they want, pick food off the floor and eat it, and generally mix with dirt and germs while they grow. That way we can build healthy and efficient immune systems that can tackle all but the toughest bugs out there.

Oh, and not begging for antibiotics to treat colds and stuff would help, too.

I have to agree. I use no antibacterial products at all. I do not hoover as much as I should yet I had no illnesses in years. I get food poisoning but it is usually so mild now that I only know about it much later. I probably have the constitution of an immortal considering. It might be twenty years since I had antibiotics. I did all those dirty things as a baby, probably because my mum was too busy having a fag to notice. She did say once that with the exception of mumps and chicken pox I was never ill as a child. I have been like that all my life really.

I was gonna post this using my iphone but by the time I got to point 6, I decided to fire up the laptop.

The issue with antibiotic resistance is manifold:

1.When antibiotics were first discovered, they became widely used.
2. Antibiotics then became used not for the infection so much as the complications. An ear infection is not much fun, but will resolve of its own accord. Even less fun is permanent hearing loss.
3. It's not always clear whether the causative agent is viral or bacterial. eg tonsillitis. The only real way to tell is to wait and see the progress - bacterial tonsillitis looks very nasty compared to viral tonsillitis. But when you see the patient quite early on in the diease progress, you can't tell. Hence you play it safe and given antibiotics. Moreso in children than adults.
4. In most people, a chest infection is of viral origin but those more susceptible to bacterial infection are given antibiotics. An ex heavy smoker is more prone to pneumonia. Conssequently, those at risk are given antibiotics to cover for bacterial infection in order to reduce complications eg death!
5. The public are completely stupid sometimes. They think they need antibiotics when in reality it's a viral infection, except they won't accept it. Why? Example: patient has an ear infection. It's most certainly viral. The last time they had it, they had antibiotics and cleared up. A viral infection will clear up in 3-4 days. A bacterial infection, with antibiotics, will clear up in 3-4 days. See the confusion? The last time it may have been bacterial but this time it's viral.
6. Some patients will demand antibiotics despite being clearly informed it's viral. Yet some doctors will fold in to patient demands and give antibiotics (sometimes this is a delayed prescription) even where it's clinically not indicated.
7. Some patients will then go on and fail to complete the course of antibiotics, requiring a further course of the same or different antibiotics. This increases likelihood of resistance.
8. Finally, drug companies are not researching/producing antibiotics - they're not profitable enough. Hence very little time, money and research is invested into this field.

IIRC Britain does quite well with antibiotics (ie. we don't give them out willy nilly) compared to our European neighbours (particularly France).

I used to put sand on my ice cream and eat it at the beach when I was likkle

Back to OP, it's been coming a while, but this time when the drugs fail the bugs will be stronger than before.

It's worse in the "third world" countries like india where they're given out for everything. In europe i hear about people being given antibiotics for sniffles alone! What's worse is that they're sold over the counter by the chemist!!!

I think people here are just as irresponsible. Demanding them for viral conditions and hard pressed doctors caving in. Personally I think that they should be restricted to hospital use only. that would mean only the worst cases are dealt with. Otherwise you have to just tolerate it till you are better.

Actually, I can't remember the last time I was given antibiotics. I'm one of those people that only bothers a doctor if it's been longer than a week, and it's something I can't put up with. Which is rare. The advice I was given by a doctor once, was that most things, left to their own devices, will clear up and go away.
(Or that the purpose of a Doctor is to distract the patient while he gets better.)
But, as we can see, it's separating those things from the nasty things that's the tricky bit.

Last time I saw a doctor I was prescribed something. I asked him if they were antibiotics and he said no. They were.

I've only had antibiotics once, for a sore throat. I know most are viral and go away after a few days, which is why I put up with it for eight days before going to the doctor. In less than a day after starting to take them the pain was gone.

It was more than twenty years for me. I did have Legionnaires and was given the wrong antibiotics. I was much better within a week anyway before the test results showed that I should be taking another medication. Nowadays I check the symptoms on Google and then self treat if necessary. I only visit the GP when I actually need something.

And consequently hospital admission rates would rise.

A simple urine infection in a little old lady can:

- progress to a systemic-wide infection, requiring intravenous antibiotics and hospital admission
- acute confusion leading to wandering in the streets at night, aggressive behaviour including punching spouses, self-neglect which can lead to dehydration and even death
- progress to infection of the kidney, causing permanent kidney damage if left unchecked.

And yet this can be treated with a simple course of antibiotics, preventing the above problems.

Antibiotics, used judiciously, can save lives and reduce hospital admissions by hitting infections early before they cause problems. The problem is, they're not always used appropriately.

I will not disagree with you on that. It is also much more cost effective to treat that way. One little antibiotic treatment rather than all the rest. The problem is with middle class parents wanting it for their kids sniffles. Or people of working age who then once they start feeling better stop taking the medication, when they still have a week to go.

You really think class is an issue?