This piece is an excerpt from my article that came out on Manila Bulletin

There is a crisis within our midst, one you might still not be aware of. And it is killing thousands globally each year. The World Health Organization considers it “one of the biggest threats to global health and development today” and it is rising to dangerously high levels in all parts of the world.

Read: World Health Organization Fact Sheet: Antimicrobial Resistance

Antibiotic resistance is the ability of a microorganism, like bacteria, to stop the effects of antibiotics that was designed to work against it. Simply put, so many microorganisms today have adapted and become stronger that the illnesses they are causing have become extremely difficult, if not impossible, to treat. In fact in the United States, “at least two million people become infected with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics and at least 23,000 people die each year as a direct result of these infections,” according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“Infections from resistant bacteria may cause graver illnesses, with worse outcomes, because they are harder to control and eradicate,” says Dr. Maria Angela Nicole S. Perreras, who specializes in Pediatric Infectious Disease. “Patients with drug-resistant bacterial infections need to stay in the hospital for longer periods—which is in itself, a risk factor for picking up deadlier bacteria,” she explains. “And when a child is infected with drug-resistant bacteria “he or she may pass this on to others, leading to more people being carriers for such bacterial strains.”

So what are some of the things parents might be doing that could be contributing to this crisis? Here are just a few of them. If you recognize any of these in you, stop them right now.

Read about the 4 things you could be doing that could lead to your child developing antibiotic resistant infections on the next page.