Four per cent of people admitted to using veterinary antibiotics after running out of their supply.The scientists had not put this as an option in the study, having not anticipated it would be so widespread.
We thought that was some other country’s problems, not ours.
That was an additional surprise,' lead author Dr Larisa Grigoryan said. Dr Grigoryan warns the bizarre trend could be driving us into a post-antibiotic era.
Borrowing from pets is not the most common way of bypassing the doctor's office.
The study, published in the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, involved 400 people. Forty per cent of antibiotics used without a prescription were purchased in stores and pharmacies in the US.
Another 24 per cent were obtained outside of the US.
Friends or relatives supplied 20 per cent of antibiotics.Leftover medicines from previous prescriptions accounted for 12%
The vast majority (74 per cent) of antibiotics that patients stored were saved from previous prescriptions.
Finally, four per cent of respondents voluntarily admitted to using the pets' pills.
The significant proportion of people in this category shows the extreme lengths people will go to to use antibiotics - without thinking of the consequences. If the ratio of the study is applicable, it could mean thousands of Americans do the same.
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When people self-diagnose and self-prescribe antibiotics it is likely that the therapy is unnecessary because most often these are upper respiratory infections that are mostly caused by viruses,' Dr Grigoryan warned.antibiotics do not kill viruses, they kill bacteria.
But Dr Grigoryan insists that even in cases that would require antibiotics, people without a medical background should not self-diagnose.more
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