For many years, doctors around the world have been warning that the overuse of antibiotics is resulting in widespread dissemination of diseases that resist treatment from drugs that previously cured many common ailments. Now a new survey shows that despite massive media attention to the issue, most people misunderstand the causes of antibiotic-resistant illnesses and thus fail to follow practices that could stem the rising tide of superbugs.

The survey was commissioned by the British medical research nonprofit The Wellcome Trust, according to The Atlantic. The group paid a consumer research company to survey dozens of people from a wide variety of backgrounds and ages in pairs or larger focus groups.

The survey showed that most participants did not understand basic information about how antibiotics work, for example, failing to realize that the drugs cannot treat viral diseases. Instead, most believed antibiotics should be used in any severe illness.

Such attitudes make it challenging for doctors, who want to avoid over-prescribing antibiotics but who are pressured by misinformed patients. Adding to the problem, few people admitted they would pester their doctor for antibiotics, instead believing that they only asked for the drugs when needed.

People were even less informed when it comes to the science around antibiotic resistance. Most people knew nothing about the basic facts, and many even believed that a patient, and not the disease-causing bacteria, was at risk for becoming resistant to drugs. Even after reading a passage that explains the science, many participants continued to hold this false belief.

The finding is especially troubling because these people also believe that if they do not finish a full course of antibiotic treatment, it will help them avoid becoming resistant. In fact, finishing an entire course of treatment is critical to help stave off the advent of resistant bacteria, which can reproduce if they are not fully vanquished by a full round of drugs.

In response to the survey findings, the Wellcome Trust says it will stop using the term “antibiotic resistance,” favoring instead “drug-resistant infection.”