The other day I was reading the news, and it said that in Tijuana there was no second-line drugs for tuberculosis. Since Tijuana is endemic to M. tuberculosis, this is big problem. The main issue is the abandonment of treatment. A full treatment is not completed and leaving half the treatment, encourages microorganisms to mutate and be resistant to many of the antibiotics available.

Tuberculosis is not the only problem, is any microorganism, especially bacteria, that are ease of mutate and pass those genes to other bacteria. And this problem is already quite old, for this reason a prescription is now needed in Mexico to buy antibiotics, due to the great resistance. But the problem was not just the free sale of antibiotics, also, those people that do not complete all doses by feeling good at half of the treatment. So we should educate the patient to finish every day of treatment, as the doctor indicates, in order to eliminate all pathogenic microorganism in an infection and prevent resistance.

Another problem discussed by several of my teachers, is the fact that a patients don’t trust in a doctor if you don’t give them antibiotics whenever a disease is present, as is the flu, for example. As we know, the flu or common cold is caused by viruses, which don’t need the use of antibiotics. But the patient wants to be prescribed antibiotics. Since a cold resolved in about 3 to 5 days, it’s only necessary to administer medication to reduce physical symptoms such as fever, muscle and/or headache and runny nose.

I also read somewhere that the FDA would ban antibacterial soaps, because they kill skin flora and also promote antimicrobial resistance. A neutral soap and a good hand washing technique should be sufficient to eliminate physically dirt and harmful bacteria that could cause disease. It shouldn’t be much problem not use antibacterial soap because we don’t always wash our hands before eating, after touching our pets, handling money or other situations.

Finally, in conclusion: it is important to educate society about the importance of antibiotic resistance, with emphasis on finishing treatment to the end, not demand antibiotics in infections that do not require it and in case of any doubt, go with your physician for a better understanding about treatment or infection.