Teaming up with the Fleming Initiative, with funding and support from GSK, Dawson is hoping to raise awareness of the growing problem of antibiotic resistance.
When Matt Dawson was sat at his two-year-old son’s bedside wondering whether he would survive, he realised just how valuable medical research can be. It is now a decade since the England World Cup winner was in hospital with his son Sami, now 12, who had been diagnosed with bacterial meningitis.
He spent a fortnight in intensive care and was able to recover in large part thanks to a course of antibiotics. And it is for that reason that Dawson is lending his support to the Keep antibiotics in play campaign to raise awareness of antibiotic resistance.
Teaming up with the Fleming Initiative, with funding and support from GSK, Dawson is hoping to raise awareness of the growing problem of antibiotic resistance and encourage the public to help protect antibiotics.
He said: “Sami’s illness was the worst time of my life. We owe his survival to the doctors who treated him and to antibiotics that worked. We’re fortunate to have these medicines, but that could change. We need to get the message out there that we all have a role to play, from preventing infections through vaccination to taking antibiotics only when necessary.
“When you’re sitting beside your child in intensive care, the only question going through your mind is whether they’re going to survive. I wouldn’t wish that on anybody.
“Quite rightly, the doctors couldn’t give any guarantees. They were doing everything they possibly could.
“That experience really reinforces how important it is to support medical research and campaigns like this. Ultimately, they save lives. The knowledge and understanding around antibiotics are vital, not just for serious infections, but for things like cancer treatment, childbirth and many other aspects of modern healthcare.”
Antibiotics are essential to treat bacterial infections, but their effectiveness is under threat as bacteria develop resistance due to overuse and misuse.
Often referred to as ‘superbugs’, these resistant bacteria are making common infections harder to treat and increasing the risks associated with routine procedures including surgery and cancer treatment.
Antibiotic resistance already causes over one million deaths each year and without urgent action, almost 40 million lives could be lost between 2025 and 2050.
Dawson added: “When you’ve been through something like that, you realise just how important these issues are. You want to do whatever you can to lend your support, and this campaign was definitely one that stood out.
“From Sami’s perspective, we came to understand just how important antibiotics are. At the time, and afterwards, there was never any question about whether he had the right antibiotics, we had to trust the doctors and the treatments they believed in, and thankfully, the antibiotics were effective.
“The statistics are pretty striking. Far too many people assume there’s always an easy fix through antibiotics, and misuse is having a serious long-term impact. One statistic that really stood out was that around one in five people don’t know antibiotics only work for bacterial infections. Many people still think they’ll help with coughs and colds.
“There’s a real long-term impact from that kind of misuse. We were incredibly unfortunate to go through what happened with Sami, but if that experience puts us in a position to help educate other people, then at least something positive can come from it.”
To reduce antibiotic resistance, there are simple steps that everyone can follow: using antibiotics only when needed and prescribed, taking them exactly as directed, never saving or sharing them and trusting professional advice, not pushing for antibiotics if not required.
Dawson added: “As you get older, though, you realise just how much research, knowledge and expertise goes into these issues. The work being done by Fleming Initiative and supported by GSK is on a completely different level to anything most of us understand. Yet we often think we know best.
“The message itself is actually quite simple. There are times when antibiotics are absolutely necessary, but it’s important to understand when they should be used and when they shouldn’t. There are consequences to using them inappropriately, and that’s something we need to take seriously.”
Rebecca Adlington, Matt Dawson and Alice Tai have teamed up with the Fleming Initiative to launch the Keep antibiotics in play campaign, to raise awareness of antibiotic resistance, with funding and support from GSK. For more information visit here.