What is the societal cost of the misuse of antibiotics?
The economic aspect of antimicrobial resistance may be the more compelling force to restore more prudent use of antibiotics. It was once estimated that for the United States alone, antibiotic resistance costs between $100 million and $30 billion annually. Another study concluded that at a minimum, resistant infections were twice as costly, in time and dollars, as a susceptible infection. As health care costs continue to rise, the economics of the problem will necessitate a change in how we use antibiotics. Is antibiotic use the only factor influencing the increase of antibiotic resistance? The antibiotic and the resistance determinant are the two major factors related to antibiotic resistance. Their interaction is compounded by the spread of bacteria and resistance genes. If antibiotic usage is limited, many antibiotic resistance determinants will not be selected. In Europe there is a big difference between the resistance frequencies in Northern Europe and the Mediterranean region. We
