CUMBRIA is one of the worst counties in the country for antibiotic use, latest figures show. 

Scientists are warning bugs are becoming resistant to some of the last effective antibiotic families because they are being overused.

 The latest data reveals the county is within the top three in a new league table setting out where most prescriptions for the drugs are dished out – with only Tyne and Wear and Lincolnshire higher. 

Medical experts in Cumbria have now urged the public to seek prescriptions only when absolutely necessary.

 Monika Pasztor, consultant microbiologist at the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, the body that runs Furness General Hospital, said: “It is important to inform patients of the side effects that antibiotics have. 

“For example, antibiotics fight all bacteria, so although they work to fight the bacteria that cause infections, they also kill the good bacteria in our bodies.

 “They can harm the gut flora that keeps us healthy and then cause abdominal disturbances, such as vomiting and diarrhoea.” 

She added: “Taking antibiotics when you don’t need them puts you at unnecessary risk of these problems.” 

Residents in the north of England receive 20 per cent more prescriptions for antibiotics than those in London, new figures show. 

In Cumbria, 0.69 antibiotic prescriptions per resident were supplied by doctors between August last year and July this year. 

The latest data shows that antibiotic use has decreased by 15.9 per cent in Barrow over the past five years – to 0.82 prescriptions per resident. People in South Lakeland have seen a decrease of 6.2 per cent over the same time frame. The number of prescriptions issued in Copeland, however, has increased by 5.6 per cent since 2011. 

Dr Andrew Brittlebank, medical director of the Cumbria Partnership NHS Trust, said more than 80 per cent of winter coughs, colds and illnesses were viruses – which could not be cured by antibiotics. 

“Antibiotics do not work like painkillers and cannot relieve headaches, aches, pains or fevers,” he said. 

“They are only effective against bacterial infections and cannot help you recover from infections caused by viruses such as the common cold or the flu. “In most cases, your own immune system is able to deal with such mild infections.”