The Department of Health has announced that from this month on, antibiotics dispensed by pharmacies in Australia are to be labelled with instructions that they be taken for a defined number of days.
According to the Department, this is a change from previous advice which simply stated until all the medicine was used.
In a statement Health said that while this might seem like a minor change to many people, it was actually “incredibly important” for both optimising patient outcomes and the continuing fight against antimicrobial resistance.
“Antimicrobial resistance occurs when germs such as bacteria and viruses, including those which cause illness, are exposed to treatments like antibiotics and antivirals,” the Department said.
“Even though antimicrobial resistance develops naturally, it is accelerated when microbes are exposed to more antimicrobial medicine than is absolutely necessary.
“When that occurs, resistance to current medicines increases and they can become less effective.”
It said the new antibiotic labelling guidelines reinforced the need for doctors to explain to patients about the number of days they should be taking the antibiotic, and that doctors should not include a repeat prescription by default.
“In addition, pharmacists will confirm with patients as part of dispensing antibiotics that they understand for how long they should take their medicine and will make sure that any repeat prescription is clinically appropriate,” the Department said.
“Patients may still find contrary advice, particularly in the Consumer Medicine Information leaflets which accompany antibiotics.
“This will eventually change but until it does, your doctor and pharmacist are the best source of advice about for how long you should take your medicine,” it said.
