Antibiotics Doctors around the country are urging people to make sure antibiotics don't lose their effectiveness by overusing them.
Overuse of antibiotics is one of the factors that leads to the superbug.
Recent reports show there has been a 55 percent increase in the number of cases of MRSA across the country, rising from 648 in 1999 to 1003 in 2000. Dr Eileen Sables, who is campaign spokesperson, says health professionals have joined forces in this fight against overuse of antibiotics in a bid to prevent resistance. Dr Sables says one of the problems has been the public's expectation that they should receive antibiotics for viruses such as colds and flu. However, these can't be killed by antibiotics. Antibiotics are powerful medicines that are effective against a wide range of bacteria.