Summary:
For millennia, people were delivered helplessly to various kinds of infections without the ability to cure them and cost the lives of millions of people. The discovery of antibiotics over the last 70 years has given people the weapons needed to cure and eradicate these diseases and has saved many lives. However, the bacteria are capable of presenting antibiotic resistance mechanisms creating the need for continuous discovery of new antibiotics.
Antibiotics are one of the most successful drugs that have been developed and used for both human use and livestock breeding, unfortunately without measure and in the wrong ways. The misuse of antibiotics has created the appropriate selective pressures for bacteria that have resistance mechanisms spread to the point that they now endanger the achievements of modern medicine and that thousands of lives are lost annually due to the fact that bacteria are resistant to the antibiotics.
To address this major problem of public health, the role of education and the cultivation of scientific literacy is crucial. In particular, in order to tackle antibiotic resistance, it is necessary to cultivate biological literacy and create the link with the Theory of Evolution in order to better understand and formulate lifelong behaviors that promote the prudent use of antibiotics and avoid practices that worsen the problem.
The purpose of this study was to map the knowledge about antibiotics and antibiotic resistance to antibiotics, as well as antibiotic use behaviors and how these behaviors affect resistance to antibiotics.
The method used was a quantitative and the research tool was a questionnaire. The sample is comprised of 202 secondary school graduates and higher education students without academic Biology knowledge. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the results.
The results of the study showed that there are misunderstandings regarding the definition of antibiotics and hence their proper use. Furthermore, the findings showed that the Greek school graduates and University students interviewed, practice the behaviors that have been shown to spread antibiotic resistance. However, there is an understanding that these behaviors enhance the phenomenon. A relatively unknown aspect was the management of unused / expired antibiotics, with the majority rejecting antibiotics into the waste and not returning it to the pharmacy. Higher levels of knowledge and perception were observed by the Science Orientation Group. Finally, Greek school graduates and University students have a significant lack of connection of antibiotic resistance with the Theory of Evolution, a connection necessary for a proper understanding of the phenomenon.
The findings reinforce the need to cultivate science literacy during school years so that future generations are made up of scientifically informed, critical-thinking citizens and above all human beings who show awareness to public health issues.
Keywords:
resistance, antibiotics, bacteria, students, evolution, scientific literacy, education
