STOPPING SUPERBUGS STARTS AT HOME, EXPERT SAYS

As cold and flu season sweeps the country, Australian families are being urged to rethink their use of antibiotics to avoid fueling the rise of drug-resistant superbugs.

With respiratory illnesses like the flu and RSV surging this winter, experts from the University of South Australia are warning that the misuse of antibiotics at home could have dangerous long-term consequences, including the rise of infections that no medicine can cure.

Superbugs are bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites that have become resistant to the drugs designed to kill them. In 2021 alone, 4.7 million deaths worldwide were linked to antimicrobial resistance, with more than one million of those directly attributed to it.

Dr Tien Bui, a registered pharmacist and Research Fellow at UniSA’s Quality Use of Medicines and Pharmacy Research Centre, says now is the time for families to learn how to use antibiotics wisely.

“Superbugs emerge when microorganisms adapt, developing mutations that allow them to survive even the strongest of medicines,” says Dr Bui.

“This often happens when people take antibiotics they don’t need, or fail to finish a prescribed course, which speeds up resistance.”

Antibiotic resistance makes standard treatments less effective — or even useless — putting people at higher risk of severe illness, complications and death.

“To tackle antibiotic resistance, we need to lift our game – practising good hygiene, staying up to date with vaccinations, and only using antibiotics when they’re truly needed,” says Dr Bui.

“It’s about taking the right medicine, at the right dose, for the right duration.”

The warning comes amid a sharp rise in prescription medicine use among children over the past three decades — making education more urgent than ever.

To mark National Science Week, Dr Bui is bringing the message to life with Slime Lab: Saving the future with the right mix! - a hands-on, family-friendly activity designed to teach children about safe antibiotic use through slime science.

Held on Saturday, August 9, at the Brocas Youth Space in St Clair, the free event will invite kids to work through short scenarios about antibiotics, helping a time-travelling visitor learn how to use medicines safely.

Slime Lab will run free sessions from 10:30am to 4:30pm at 111 Woodville Road, St Clair SA. Families are encouraged to attend and learn how the fight against superbugs begins at the bathroom cabinet, not in the hospital.