We're on track to 'lose the most powerful tool we have to fight life-threatening infections

When you're sick, it's understandable to tryanything to feel better.But if you're prescribed antibiotics,whichdon't work against most colds sincethey're caused by viruses,not bacteria, you might want to think twice about taking them.In a new report published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association bythe CDC and Pew Charitable Trusts, researchers found that about 30% of all the antibiotics prescribed in the USor roughly onein every threeare not necessary.Part of the problem is that they're often prescribed for things that they're not designedto treat, like the flu, colds, or viral sinus infections.But apart from simplynot helping you feel better, prescribing antibiotics when they're not necessary is contributing to a massive global problem. This problem is calledantibiotic resistance,and it refers to the growing problem of trying to killincreasingly smart, or resistant, bacteria with increasingly powerful drugs.Previous studies haveestimated that as many asone in sevenhospital-acquired infectionsis caused by such antibiotic-resistant bacteria.For their newest finding,researchers studiedtwo 2010-2011 surveys that looked in part at how many people were treated with antibiotics over that year. Out of the 154 million prescriptions written forantibiotics, 30% were not needed,based on what the patient had beendiagnosed with. Many people in the survey, for example, had been prescribed antibiotics for things like sore throats, which are most often caused by viruses.The 30% figure includes outpatient data as well, a group for whom the problem appears to be even worse.Among outpatients (people who aren't admitted to the hospital), some 50%of theantibiotics prescribed arenot needed."Antibiotics are lifesaving drugs, and if we continue down the road of inappropriate use we'll lose the most powerful tool we have to fight life-threatening infections, CDC Director Tom Frieden said in a press release.NEXT:There's a silent killer in hospitals, and it's actually worse than we thoughtRELATED:There's an apocalyptic scenario forming with infections ' here are 2 ways people are planning to fight backJoin the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: NASA is looking for ways to dispose of dead bodies in space ' and it's getting weird
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