The Irish Pharmacy Union is trying to highlight correct use of the drugs ahead of European Antibiotics Awareness Day this Sunday.

Scientists believe a new antibiotic which is capable of killing superbugs and has been successfully used to treat an infection could lead to the first new class of antibiotic drug in 30 years.

Any effort to restrict the consumption of antibiotics or regulate the food and drug industry will need complex ethical analysis, writes Christian Munthe.

The European Commission is going to spend €200 million looking into our use of antibiotics.

The public is being warned that overuse of antibiotics is now one of the biggest threats to patient safety in Ireland.

Ireland may be well placed to take advantage, as restrictions on veterinary medicines in livestock farming increase.

An elderly man has died of a severe skin peeling condition resulting from an allergic reaction to antibiotics, an inquest has heard.

Ireland ranks third highest in the EU for antibiotic use.

A first case of a patient with a bacterium that is resistant to the antibiotic colistin — known as the drug of last resort — has been detected in the US.

Doctors should be forced to perform diagnostic tests on patients before prescribing antibiotics which are currently being dished out “like sweets”, according to a major review of antibiotic resistance.

Fifty-four large investors managing €1.2 trillion in assets have launched a campaign to curb the use of antibiotics in the meat and poultry used by ten large US and British restaurant groups.

Some frequently prescribed antibiotics could be rendered “ineffective”, researchers have warned after finding high rates of resistance to the drugs among children with a common condition.

Scientists have developed a new weapon in the battle to safeguard the effectiveness of antibiotics. 

Up to 10m prescriptions for antibiotics are being dished out unnecessarily every year in the UK with many patients seeking out doctors who are a “soft touch” to get hold of them, health officials have said.

The European Parliament has voted for a number of measures to tackle the growing resistance to both human and veterinary antibiotics.

A simple blood test could soon tell doctors within two hours whether a patient has a viral or bacterial infection, thereby cutting the need for antibiotics in many cases.

More than half of EU citizens still believe they need antibiotics to cure them when they have the common cold or flu.

The world is entering a post-antibiotic era in which common infections and minor injuries can kill, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned.