Augmentin and amoxicillin

However, some antibiotics are now less useful than they once were due to an increase in antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria

can

In some cases, this can mean there are no effective treatments for certain conditions.

Each year, 2 million people are infected with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics, resulting in at least 23,000 deaths.

When you take an antibiotic, the sensitive bacteria are eliminated.

The bacteria that survive during antibiotic treatment are often resistant to that antibiotic. These bacteria often have unique characteristics that prevent antibiotics from working on them.

Some serious antibiotic-resistant infections include: Clostridium difficile ( C.

diff ) The overgrowth of this type of bacteria causes infection in both your small and large intestines. This often occurs after someone’s treated with antibiotics for a different bacterial infection. Vancomycin-resistant enterococcus (VRE) These bacteria often infect your amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium uses bloodstream, urinary tract, or surgical wounds.

This infection typically occurs in people who are hospitalized.

Enterococci infections may be treated with the antibiotic vancomycin, but VRE is resistant to this treatment.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) This type of infection is resistant to traditional staph infection antibiotics. It’s most common in people in hospitals and those with weakened immune systems. Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) This class of bacteria are resistant to a lot of other antibiotics.

CRE infections typically occur in

people

cause

Several important steps can be taken to decrease inappropriate antibiotic use: Take antibiotics only for bacterial infections .

Don’t use antibiotics for conditions caused by viruses such as the common cold, flu, cough, or sore throat.

Take antibiotics as directed by your healthcare provider .

Using

the

Even if you feel better after a few days, talk with your healthcare provider before discontinuing an antibiotic. Using the wrong antibiotic for an infection might lead to resistance.

Don’t take antibiotics prescribed for someone

else

Also, don’t take antibiotics left over from a previous treatment.

Your healthcare provider will be able to select the most appropriate antibiotic for your specific type of infection. Study: Your Allergy to Penicillin May Be Non-Existent.

When Maria Duggan developed a breast infection, she faced a choice no new mother would want to make: take an antibiotic that she’d been told could cause a severe allergic reaction, or one that would pass through her breast milk to her baby. Like millions of Americans, Duggan, 32, had been diagnosed with a penicillin allergy as a child, but doctors believed she might have outgrown it. Still, the prospect of taking a drug that might send her into anaphylactic shock was scary.

“I knew there was going to be a risk in the decision and that risk was going to have to fall to me,” Duggan said.

After being prepared for the worst, Duggan had no reaction to the penicillin.

As it turns out, she is one of many Americans who’ve been told they have a penicillin allergy, but may been initially misdiagnosed or have grown out of it. Most doctors aren’t even aware that some 90 percent of those diagnosed with a penicillin allergy can actually tolerate the drug, according to a study presented recently at the annual meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.

This site is protected by recaptcha Privacy Policy | Terms of Service. “The typical situation is at a young age a child will get an infection and will get a course of penicillin and then will get a rash, or some other side effect, and get labeled as penicillin allergic,” said Dr.

Elizabeth Phillips, a professor of medicine and pharmacology and director of personalized immunology, Oates Institute of Experimental Therapeutics at Vanderbilt University.

who believe they are allergic may not truly be, said Phillips.

Penicillin-related drugs are antibiotics with a long track record of safety.

When people who’ve been labeled as allergic to penicillin need antibiotics for serious infections, "they may get a second antibiotic that has more side effects or is less effective for the condition they need treated,” Phillips said. The solution for many is a simple, two-step test, followed, as needed, by a low-dose oral penicillin, taken under a doctor's observation. "The whole process takes about three hours and then we can say they’re free to take penicillin in the future,” said Phillips.

Hollis Heavenrich-Jones tested her son, Spencer's reaction to penicillin before he needed it. The child was diagnosed with a penicillin allergy when he was amoxicillin and mucinex a baby, but Heavenrich-Jones wanted to be sure. “He had his one and only ear infection and they gave him penicillin and he broke out in a sort of head-to-toe rash,” Heavenrich-Jones said. “It went into his chart and it’s been there ever since.” Spencer underwent a skin test and took an oral dose. Both revealed no allergy, a "huge relief" to his mother.

An earlier version of this story stated Spencer had a reaction to a control substance during a test. It has been updated to reflect that his skin tests were negative. Lauren Dunn is a producer with the NBC News medical unit in New York. Linda Carroll is a regular health contributor to NBC News and Reuters Health.