Expert: Dr Alan Galbraith - 11/6/2009

Question
Hello.

I have been using antibiotics for about 2-3 years at regular intervals. mostly due to a recurring dental infection. at that time, i didnt knew anything about bacterial resistance can develop.

and it has. the antibiotic amoxycillin no longer works well on me. i recently had a throat infection, and augmentin(amoxycillin) didnt work. so the doctor had to change the antibiotic to get my throat fixed. the new antiobiotic was called leflox.

anyways, my question is that what if in the future, the bacteria gets resistant to the leflox drug too? i mean, how many more types of antibiotics are there in the market? and do new ones keep coming with the years? or are we just stuck with like 5 or 6 types of antiobiotics...


im kinda worried the bacteria in my body will get resistant to leflox too...

what then. i mean, what if no antibiotic work on me?
im 22 years old, like what happens when 45 and i get an infection, maybe a dental infection, and by that time i may have used up all of the antibiotics, and they dont work on me. what then?

im worried.

Answer
Dear Bilal

Whaty you are saying is essentially true and many bacyteria will become resistant to Leflox. Overprescribing is one reason for this. However, new antibiotics are continually coming onto the market and science is trying hard to keep up with the development of resistant strains and is succeeding most of the time with only a few exceptions. In the future this can only improve as scientic research has so far accelerated monthly and I see no reason for any slowdown.

If I were you I would put these worries out of your head as what you are saying in your final sentence will probably never happen.

Regards

Dr Alan Galbraith