What is Your Antibiotics IQ?

The Quickly Changing World of Antibiotics

Well, if you haven’t been following along about the state of antibiotic resistance in the world today… it’s time to do your homework!

The “superbugs” are here.  But don’t let the media fool you – antibiotic resistance isn’t about a handful of “superbugs.”  Any bacteria can develop resistance to our antibiotics.  And as it turns out, they already have.

It’s odd that this story is still so surprising to so many people.  The inventor of modern antibiotics himself actually told us this would happen, if we misused them.  Long before “superbugs” were making any headlines, Sir Alexander Fleming had this to say shortly after he accepted the Nobel Prize for developing penicillin…

“The microbes are educated to resist penicillin and a host of penicillin-fast organisms is bred out…  In such cases the thoughtless person playing with penicillin is morally responsible for the death of the man who finally succumbs to infection with the penicillin–resistant organism. I hope this evil can be averted.”

Uh… I’ve got some bad news, Dr. Fleming.

Read more: Treating Infections Without Antibiotics

What is Your Antibiotics IQ?

We put together this nifty quiz so that you can gauge your knowledge about antibiotic resistance against the general population.

These 10 questions will show whether or not you’ve been paying attention, and more importantly, whether or not you know the basic facts that you need to know in order to make the best decisions for yourself and your loved ones.  Take the quiz by clicking on the banner below or by clicking here.

Pass or Fail?

Don’t worry if you didn’t ace the quiz on your first attempt.  There’s some technical stuff, and a lot of numbers to remember.

You can always come brush up on the basics here at The Grow Network.  For starters, check out Marjory’s article 23,000 People Will Die This Year… and the follow-up Antimicrobial Resistance in the News.  And if those two are too depressing for you, there’s a bit of positive news to be found here: A New View of Life on Earth – The National Microbiome Initiative.

And we’d love to hear your feedback on the quiz.  If you have thoughts or comments, share them with us using the comments at the bottom of this blog post, down below.