Date: Wednesday, 18 April 2018
Time: 7:30am to 8:45am
Venue: Parmelia Perth Hilton, 14 Mill Street, Perth
Attend and Earn: 1 CPD point; 1 NIBA Point
Presented by Dr Joel Silbert & Dr Thea Leman | OSH Group
Chaired by Stephen Williams | Kott Gunning and Vice-President AILA
In November 2017 the World Health Organisation said:
“Antibiotics are medicines used to prevent and treat bacterial infections. Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria change in response to the use of these medicines. Bacteria, not humans or animals, become antibioticresistant. These bacteria may infect humans and animals, and the infections they cause are harder to treat than those caused by nonresistant bacteria. Antibiotic resistance leads to higher medical costs, prolonged hospital stays, and increased mortality. The world urgently needs to change the way it prescribes and uses antibiotics. Even if new medicines are developed, without behaviour change, antibiotic resistance will remain a major threat.”
In the same month the Australian Health Department said:
“antimicrobial resistance is a urgent global health priority, with the World Health Organization describing it as a looming crisis in which common and treatable infections are becoming life threatening. AMR is increasing both in Australia and internationally … Australia has one of the highest rates of antibiotic use in the world. Antibiotic use increases the chance for bacteria to develop resistance to antibiotics. If we continue to use antibiotics when we don’t need them, they won’t work in the future when we do need them.”
Claims are already arising where antibiotic resistance has complicated matters. In one case we are aware of it turned what would have been a wrist/arm injury claim into one requiring an urgent hip replacement after infection spread to the joint. In another, a relatively innocuous ingrown hair treated on an oil rig lead to the worker suffering a life-threatening infection. Claims costs could and likely will rise significantly.
Are you aware of the risks?
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