6 Summary

This week, you learned more about the relationship between antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance. You should now appreciate the role of hygiene and sanitation and rapid diagnostics in reducing demand and preventing the unnecessary use of antibiotics. You should also understand how pathogens are transmitted and the role of good hygiene in blocking this transmission.

You also learned that traditional diagnostic methods can contribute to unnecessary antibiotic use. You should now be able to give some examples of rapid diagnostic tests and appreciate their role in tackling antibiotic resistance.

You should now be able to:

• reflect on how antibiotic use can be reduced
• understand how infections are transmitted
• describe the role of good hygiene in reducing the spread of infectious diseases
• give examples of how the diagnosis of antibiotic-resistant infections can be improved to reduce antibiotic use.

In the final week of this course, you will look at some possible alternatives to antibiotics that could also be used to prevent unnecessary antibiotic use and reduce demand.

You can now go to Week 8.