[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Levy_3_col.jpg” caption=”Stuart B. Levy”]NOTE: The 23rd Annual Perey Lecture by Stuart B. Levy, originally scheduled to take place today, has been rescheduled to Thursday, Oct. 21 at 5 p.m. in Health Sciences Centre, Rm. 4E20.

Finding the balance to provide the proper use of antimicrobials is the focus of a talk today by Stuart B. Levy, an internationally recognized expert in the area of antibiotic resistance. Levy will give the 23rd Annual Perey Lecture at McMaster University on Thursday, Oct. 21 at 5 p.m. in Health Sciences Centre, Rm. 4E20.

The use of antibiotics results in two conflicting consequences — curing of the disease while making bacteria in their wake more resistant.

Finding the balance to provide the proper use of antimicrobials is the focus of a talk today by Stuart B. Levy, an internationally recognized expert in the area of antibiotic resistance. Levy will give the 23rd Annual Perey Lecture at McMaster University on Wednesday, Oct. 20 at 5 p.m. in Ewart Angus Centre of the McMaster Health Sciences Centre, Rm. 1A6.

Levy is the director of the Centre for Adaptation Genetics and Drug Resistance at Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Mass. He has been a champion of increasing awareness of the problems of antibiotic misuse and resistance, and the development of approaches towards improving antibiotic usage and effectiveness worldwide.

When the consequence of antibiotic misuse in countries across the world, namely antibiotic resistance, is only a plane ride away, resistant bacteria become an international problem, he says.

Antibiotic use by individuals affects others sharing the same environment. Like second-hand smoke, while not ingesting the antibiotic, people can acquire resistant organisms from others taking these drugs.

For instance, people living in the same household of those taking antibiotics for acne showed increased numbers of resistant bacteria on their skin.

The resistance problem is further complicated by the fact that resistance is transferable from bacterium to bacterium.

“The overuse of surface antibacterial-containing cleaning products in the home is a new practice which is nonsense, since it may contribute to the antibiotic resistance problem. Resistant mutants have been derived in the laboratory. Studies indicate that the added chemicals offer no advantage over plain soap and water.”

At the lecture, Levy, author of the widely-cited book, The Antibiotic Paradox (Perseus Books, 2002) will offer both a global and historical perspective on the crisis in antibiotic resistance.