Get Smart About Antibiotics Week Begins Today
Get Smart About Antibiotics Week begins today and runs through Oct. 11. This annual effort coordinates the work of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work campaign, state-based appropriate antibiotic use campaigns, nonprofit partners, and for-profit partners during a week-long observance focused on antibiotic resistance and the importance of appropriate antibiotic use.
Inappropriate use of antibiotics can promote antibiotic resistance. To reduce the spread of resistance, the Get Smart program urges health care providers to avoid prescribing antibiotics to treat viral upper respiratory infections (URIs) and to 1) identify and discuss patient concerns related to URIs, 2) recommend symptomatic therapy for URIs, and 3) prescribe a targeted antibiotic (rather than broad-spectrum) for bacterial infections.
Additional information is available at www.cdc.gov/getsmart.