A 4-month-old infant had been running a moderate fever for 36 hours, and a nervous mother made a call to her pediatrician. Examination and tests revealed no outward signs of infection or cause of the...

A 4-month-old infant had been running a moderate fever for
36 hours, and a nervous mother made a call to her pediatrician.
Examination and tests revealed no outward signs
of infection or cause of the fever. The anxious mother wanted
a prescription for antibiotics, but the pediatrician recommended
watching the infant for two days before making a decision. He
explained that decades of rampant use of antibiotics in medicine
and agriculture has caused a global surge in antibiotic-resistant
bacteria, drastically reducing the effectiveness of antibiotic therapy
for infections. He pointed out that bacteria can exchange antibiotic
resistance traits and that many pathogenic strains are now
resistant to several antibiotics. The mother was not placated
by
these explanations and insisted that her baby receive antibiotics
immediately. This situation raises several issues. How should the pediatrician balance his ethical responsibility

to provide effective treatment to the present patient with

his ethical responsibility to future patients who may need

antibiotics for effective treatment?