Emphasizing the importance of prudent antibiotic use decreases unrealistic perceptions of new antibiotic discoveries AbstractBackground. The 2024 discovery of a new class of antibiotics is cause for cautious celebration. However, media coverage of this discovery shows ove

These findings highlight the need for balanced communication to manage public expectations and support responsible antibiotic use. (6)

Find out more via: doi.org/10.1093/jaca...

While antibiotic expectations decreased across all conditions, the optimistic news led to unrealistic perceptions about solving AMR with the new antibiotics, a negative effect mitigated by the additional cautious messaging. (5)

Participants read different versions of a fictional medical article: one with optimistic news about the discovery of new antibiotics, one with additional cautious messaging about prudent antibiotic use, and a control article focused solely on AMR. (4)

In two studies (N=847), we investigated how news about new antibiotics affects public perceptions of AMR and expectations for receiving antibiotics. (3)

In 2024, the discovery of a new antibiotic, zosurabalpin, showed promise against resistant bacteria, sparking media coverage that hailed it as a major step in combating antimicrobial resistance (AMR). However, overly optimistic reporting risks creating a false sense of safety among the public. (2)

Communicating about antimicrobial resistance #AMR and prudent antibiotic use is important when new antibiotics are discovered. #WorldAMRAwarenessWeek #WAAW2025 (1)👇

Tomorrow marks the start of 🌍 World AMR Awareness Week 2025! We’ll be sharing insights from our AMR research as psychologists at @univie.ac.at @ipb.bsky.social @unierfurt.bsky.social and BNITM. Like/share this post for updates throughout the week! #AMR #WorldAMRAwarenessWeek #WAAW2025

I had an interesting 2nd day at #ICBM2025 in Vienna today. In our session, I presented our work on communicating about #AMR and pudent antibiotic use when new antibiotics are developed.
Please visit @abc-network.bsky.social if you are interested in the emerging field of behavioral research and AMR.

So happy to have been part of this project!

New paper led by @riangross.bsky.social published in @jac-amr.bsky.social: "Emphasizing the importance of prudent antibiotic use decreases unrealistic perceptions of new antibiotic discoveries" The title says it all. doi.org/10.1093/jaca...

How do we need to combine individual predictions to maximize prediction accuracy, i.e., Wisdom of the Crowd? We invite YOU to propose an aggregation mechanism that will compete with other research teams' suggestions in a number of prediction tasks. Interested? Read more: woccap.com Please repost!