Question

The decision was made to take an antibiotic imposes costs on others. What? Yes, because it helps bacteria to become more resistant to drugs. It does, however, most likely slow down the spread of infectious disease, much like vaccinations do. Therefore, antibiotics create external benefits. But they also create external costs, as explained above. It turns out that economists believe that in the end we use too many antibiotics, not too few of them. Using the language of marginal analysis, explain why economists think that this is so.

Answer 1

Antibiotics are like miracle drugs, they can either kill the bacteria or keep them from spreading further by reproduction. But they are not effective against viruses such as the common cold or influenza. What's often ignored is that antibiotics kill good bacteria along with the bad. They carry the potential of much harmful adverse reaction. It implies that antibiotics should not be taken casually.

In the marginal analysis, the additional benefits of activity are compared to the additional cost incurred by the same activity.
It is a cost-benefit study. Here, the marginal benefit of the use of antibiotics is that they can fight certain infections and save lives when used properly by either stopping the bacteria from reproducing or destroying them. Generally, white blood cells attack harmful bacteria and the immune system can usually cope and fight off the infection. However, in the case of the inability of the immune system to fight them all, antibiotics prove to be very useful. They produce benefits only if they are used or prescribed to a certain level only. Beyond a certain level, the cost of the antibiotics outweighs their benefits. Overuse of antibiotics contributes to the growing number of bacterial infections that are becoming resistant to antibiotics. When the drugs are not prescribed properly or aren't taken as prescribed, they cause side effects. Over time, harmful bacteria adapt to antibiotics in circulation, making the remedy less ineffective or in some cases, useless. Antibiotic resistance is one of the most pressing health problems. People do understand the issue, but they end up using too many antibiotics, not too few of them. The overuse of antibiotics promotes antibiotic resistance which further contributes to an increasing number of health problems.

If antibiotics are not used according to its effects, the cost of antibiotic would outweigh its benefits. As the quantity used increases, the marginal utility of the antibiotics decreases.