I have been following this issue for some years now. Some limited progress has been made, but misuse of antibiotics remains a problem that threatens the efficacy of antibiotics for treating human diseases.

This comes from KeepAntibioticsWorking.org:

Antibiotic Resistance Threatens Public Health
Doctors depend on antibiotics to treat illnesses caused by bacteria, from pneumonia to meningitis and other life-threatening infections. The effectiveness of many antibiotics has begun to wane, the legacy of decades of unnecessary overuse in both human medicine and agriculture.

Keep Antibiotics Working is a coalition of health, consumer, agricultural, environmental, humane and other advocacy groups with more than ten million members dedicated to eliminating a major cause of antibiotic resistance: the inappropriate use of antibiotics in food animals. For a general overview of the issue, see the Campaign's fact sheets: Antibiotic Resistance - An Emerging Public Health Crisis (an annotated version is also available) and Antibiotic Resistance and Animal Agriculture.

And a recent action alert:
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According to the Union of Concerned Scientists recent newsletter, the antibiotic resistant strain of Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) that has been an increasing problem in hospitals around the world is now infecting apparently healthy schoolkids outside of hospitals. This is a major development. Up until now anti-biotic resistance was only occasionally a problem outside of hospitals (so-called community-acquired" cases). This may be changing. According to the Centers for Disease Control, MRSA was responsible for almost 19,000 US deaths in 2005.

Another part of this development is also important. Evidence from Europe indicate that the community-acquired cases of MRSA are often associated with livestock operations. This is yet further evidence that the idiotic practice of pouring massive amounts of antibiotics into the feed of healthy animals is contributing to the public health risk of antibiotic resistant bacteria that treatens our children and people with a compromised immune system.
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An ongoing effort of mine is to fight the misuse of antibiotics. Misuse of antibiotics has been an increasing health hazard for people, leading to many strains of antibiotic resistant bacteria that infect, and sometimes kill, people, particularly children, the elderly and the immunocompromised. Last time I wrote about this I was able to report a victory in the fight to keep antibiotics effective. Today I want to introduce the latest fight.

First, for those who want more background, the Union of Concerned Scientists has an excellent rundown. An excerpt from their site:

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are on the rise. Patients once effectively treated for pneumonia, tuberculosis, or ear infections may now have to try three or more antibiotics before they find one that works. And as more bacterial strains develop resistance, more people will die because effective antibiotics are not identified quickly enough or because the bacteria causing the disease are resistant to all available antibiotics.

Why have bacterial strains become resistant? The short answer is overuse of antibiotics. Physicians and hospitals have overprescribed the drugs, and patients have demanded them—even for illnesses not caused by bacteria. Veterinarians, too, overprescribe drugs to treat sick animals.
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Antibiotics, their misuse and the risk of antibiotic resistant bacteria, have been things I have blogged about before at some length (e.g. here). My main focus has been the misuse of antibiotics in agriculture: the routine use of antibiotics in animal feed. This practice is considered one of the main reasons why there has been such an increase in antibiotic resistant bacteria in recent years.

But an article on BBC discussing medical treatments that are known to be ineffective reminded me of another source of selective pressure for the evolution of antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria: misuse of antibiotics in people.

As a parent, I know full well the dread one feels when a child's eye starts looking red and oozy. That discharge in the corner of the eye tells you it is that dreaded ailment known as "pinkeye." Nothing to do but stay home from work and try to get a doctor's appointment...and start washing your hands like you have OCD to prevent spreading the germs.

You finally get to see the doctor, he takes one look, declares it pink eye...then prescribes antibiotics.

And therein is the problem. Antibiotics don't really work for pinkeye...it is a waste of money, effort in giving the poor mite drops, and it adds to the selective pressure for the evolution of antibiotic resistant bacteria, creating an actual health hazard.
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