CANBERRA, May 28 (Xinhua) -- An Australian-first study has warned that aged care residents are particularly vulnerable to superbugs as a result of "overexposure" to antibiotics.
The study, published by the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) and University of South Australia (UniSA) on Thursday, was the first national study analyzing antibiotic prescriptions in residential aged care facilities (RACFs).
It revealed a sustained escalation in antibiotic prescriptions for elderly people living in RACFs, potentially boosting their antibiotic resistance.
"Overexposure to antibiotics can cause the bacteria we're trying to eliminate to become resistant to our treatments," lead author Janet Sluggett said in a media release.
"Across the health system, we need to be really discerning about antibiotic use as much as possible to guard against antibiotic resistance, as well as unnecessary side-effects for individuals."
A survey published by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) earlier in May revealed a low level of superbug knowledge among Australians.
Experts have previously warned that superbugs -- strains of bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi that have developed a resistance to antibiotics -- could kill 10 million people by 2050.
The South Australian researchers examined 5.6 million antibiotic prescriptions for more than half a million people aged 65 and over from more than 3,000 RACFs across Australia between July 2005 and June 2016.
They found that the number of standard daily antibiotic doses per 1,000 residents increased 39 percent from 67.6 to 93.8.
"This nationwide study showed substantial increases in both the percentage of people who received an antibiotic and the total number of antibiotic doses supplied," Sluggett said.
"In the first year of the study, almost 64 percent of residents received an antibiotic at least once. By the final year that figure climbed to more than 70 percent, at an annual rate of increase of 0.8 percent." Enditem
