In this section
In this section
Treating Disease
After diagnosing the issue and preventing the spread of infection through your animals, there may be different treatment options available, such as anti-inflammatory pain relief. Antibiotics should only be used when strictly necessary and as little as possible. Knowing the weights of animals to be treated, following the correct dosing regime, and reporting poor treatment outcomes to veterinarians are key principles to responsibly using antibiotics. Consult a veterinarian to ensure antibiotic treatments are only used when required and visit our section on targeted use of antibiotics.
Alternative Treatments
Alternatives to antibiotics include any substance that can be substituted for antibiotic therapeutic drugs. This is an emerging field, with promising novel technologies that could provide alternatives to antibiotic use under development in the areas of:
- Phytochemicals
- Innovative drugs, chemicals and enzymes
- Immunoglobulins and host defence peptides
- Microbial-derived products
Targeted Use of Antibiotics
Some antibiotics are crucial in the treatment for certain human and/or animal diseases. Misuse of these antibiotics contributes to therapy failure in humans and animals. Guidelines to help veterinarians to make prudent choices are available, but basic principles to consider are:
- Dosage: a correct dose and therapy duration are crucial in avoiding resistance selection and spread.
- Group administration vs individual administration: group administration causes a higher selection pressure compared to individual treatments.
- Administration route: feed medication and water medication are more likely to cause resistance selection and spread than injections. There are different reasons for this, e.g. dosage is less precise, there is a risk of cross-contamination with the environment etc.
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