Antibiotics and You: An introduction to antibiotic resistant infections
A new, open-access course by The University of Manchester
This week, we launched a new, open-access course called Antibiotics and You: An introduction to antibiotic resistant infections. This short course is aimed at the public to increase general understanding of antibiotic resistance and the role that they can play to help tackle the issue. The course was developed by a team of staff and students and involved input from patients, health professionals and ANTRUK.
What is antibiotic resistance?
Antibiotics are one of the most effective drugs that we have to fight and prevent infectious diseases caused by bacteria. However, some bacteria that cause infections become resistant to antibiotics. Antibiotic resistance has increased to such an extent that it is now undermining modern medicine. Major advances in treatments for sepsis, cancer and heart disease, are being overturned because of antibiotic resistance. Even simple infections become harder to treat because of antibiotic resistance. The reality today is that people in the UK and around the world are developing bacterial infections that no longer respond to existing antibiotics, and in the worst of cases, this can be fatal.
How can I help?
The good news is that people like you can stop this happening and help antibiotics continue to be effective. This short course will give you a basic understanding of antibiotic resistance. It will identify some simple behaviours you can include in your everyday life so that we can ensure that antibiotics will work when you or your family need them.
The course
The course should take approximately 90 minutes to complete. By the end of the course, you should be able to:
- Recognise the universal issue of antibiotic resistant infections and how the scale of the problem affects us all
- Explain the fundamentals of antibiotic resistance and how human activity is accelerating the issue
- Take immediate action towards solving the problem
You can access the full course without enrolling here. Alternatively, if you would like a certificate on completion of the course, you can sign up for a free course account.
Please share this course far and wide with your friends and family on WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, email, Instagram or even TikTok. Let’s keep antibiotics working for everyone.
