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Boston, Mass. – "Patients have to stop stockpiling [antibiotics] and demanding them. Doctors have to be able to look the patient in the eye and say, 'You have a cold. You don't need an antibiotic, '" Dr. Stuart Levy, a medical professor from the Tufts University School of Medicine, told CBS Evening News. Levy, an expert in antibiotic resistance, added, "Every bacterial agent has learned over the last -- not so long -- 50 years to resist the most potent of our antibiotics." Levy serves as the Director of the Center for Adaptation Genetics and Drug Resistance at Tufts University. He made his comments following the release of the most recent World Health Organization report on infectious diseases. On June 1, Levy spoke to reporters about the impact of antibacterial soaps on germ resistance. According to the New York Times, Levy said popular sprays and washes -- used for hands or kitchen counters, for example, may actually encourage the growth of ever-hardier, drug-resistant germs. "Levy said the problem with antibacterials was a simple matter of 'survival of the fittest.' Rather than killing all bacteria, the products destroy only the weakest, leaving stronger ones to survive and multiply," reports the Times.
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Tufts'
Stuart Levy Talks to CBS' Evening News About Antibacterial Resistance