Patna doctors caution against unwise use of antibiotics

PATNA: Even as the Covid cases are declining with every passing day, doctors and health experts in the city have cautioned people against prolonged intake of antibiotics. They claimed that such practice can lead to antibiotic resistance.
Antibiotic resistance occurs upon prolonged and injudicious use of antibiotics, which makes patients vulnerable to even simple infections. With quacks blindly prescribing antibiotics, unverified suggestions on WhatsApp and distribution of drugs without genuine prescription, the danger of antibiotic resistance is serious amid the pandemic.
Acting president of Bihar chapter of Indian Medical Association (IMA), Dr Ajay Kumar, said antibiotics, being scheduled drugs, should be strictly prohibited for over the counter sales.
“Most patients, who come to us with Covid-related complaints, had already taken some antibiotics. They do it as a precautionary measure without knowing its consequences,” he said.
Dr Sanjeev Kumar, AIIMS-Patna nodal officer in-charge for Covid-19, said prolonged, unnecessary or even sub-optimal (less than required) dosage can lead to antibiotic resistance against the specific pathogen. “Last year, we came across the ‘DelhiBug’ or ‘SuperBug’ gene (clinical name blaNDM-1), which makes bacteria resistant to carbapenems, which are highest grade antibiotics or the last resort,” he said.
“Such highly resistant genes develop especially in pathogens which are inside the ICU patients who are given high dosage of multiple antibiotics. In prolonged cases, patients get immuno-compromised and succumb to the decease. Similar cases have been noted with abuse of antifungal drugs,” he said.
Dr Vivek Kumar, ENT specialist at PMCH, said: “Antibiotic, as the name suggests, is ‘against the biology of the body’. In most cases, simpler diseases can be treated without antibiotics. Diseases like flu, cold and sore throat are all viral. Even Covid-19 is a viral decease, theoretically and practically. Antibiotics have no role in its management. Antibiotics should be indicated as treatment for secondary infections only and not as a safety blanket.”
Dr Chandan Choudhary, a gastromedicine resident doctor at IGIMS, said one should only take advice from qualified medical professionals and not self-proclaimed ones. “It can worsen the disease and even make it fatal. Leaving gaps in the full course of a medicine should also be avoided,” he advised.
He clarifies what common people get wrong. “It’s actually the microbe which gets resistant to the drug and not our body itself,” he added.
In case of antibiotic resistance, doctors go for antibiotic sensitivity test, that shows which group of antibiotics is resistant and which is sensitive to the particular pathogen that has caused the infection.