Antibiotic resistance can sweep geographic areas seemingly overnight.” “As a society we must weigh the benefits of increased access to a treatment that reduces the impact of the disease in the individual consumer against the risks of shortening the time that these antibiotics remain effective. “However, the reduced symptom days would be purchased at a significant social and health cost tomorrow in terms of antibiotic resistance,” she stressed. “Earlier over-the-counter treatment would produce a reduction in the number of symptom days, ranging from 52.1 million days to 78.2 million days a year,” Foxman said. What about the costs in human discomfort and suffering? “Over a 20-year time horizon, discounted 5 percent annually for the declining value of the dollar, the additional treatment costs would amount to more than $300 million,” Rubin said. The U-M analysis found: if over-the-counter treatment were available in a pack that would include both a dipstick diagnostic test and antibiotics, the national costs for UTI-associated doctor visits would decline $31.4 million a year, from $157.1 million to doctor visits would be offset by an increase of $55.6 million in treatment costs, from the current $23.6 million a year for prescriptions to $79.1 million a year for the over-the-counter packs. It also assessed the benefits of reduced symptom days. The cost-effectiveness analysis, which was based on a 20- year time horizon, included the costs of doctor visits and the costs of both over-the-counter and prescription medical treatments. ” Another 2.7 million are triggered by other conditions, such as chlamydia, vaginal yeast infection and genital herpes.” “Of those, 3.6 million are actual, diagnosed cases,” Rubin said. Urinary symptoms account for 6 million to 7 million doctor visits a year, making it one of the most common problems seen for primary care physicians. UTI antibiotic treatments are not currently available over the counter. UTIs are generally self-limiting in otherwise healthy women who are experiencing no fever or back pain, Foxman added.įoxman and her colleague, Nicole Rubin, a U-M graduate from the School of Public Health, now with the Lewin Group in Sausalito, Calif., report their analysis in the November issue of the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. Resistance to antibiotics would most probably increase over time, due to misdiagnosis by consumers, and leave them with fewer treatment options in the future,” explained Betsy Foxman, associate professor of epidemiology. “Over-the-counter antibiotic treatment for UTI would not be cost-effective in the long run, according to our cost- effectiveness analysis, and it also would be highly risky from a public health perspective. A cost- effectiveness analysis conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, however, suggests that such a move would be risky business. ANN ARBOR-Health consumers plagued by urinary tract infections (UTI) might be pleased by the convenience of over-the- counter availability for UTI antibiotic treatment.
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