Chenna: Recent publication by Aetna International titled ‘Antibiotic resistance’, highlights India among as most affected by antibiotic resistance. Multiple factors, such as high burden of disease, poor public health infrastructure, rising incomes and the unregulated sale of cheap antibiotics have amplified the crisis of antibiotics resistance in India.
Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is causing around 7 Lakh deaths worldwide and the death toll may reach 1 crore per year by 2050. Addressing the growing concerns around the antibiotic resistance worldwide, Dr. Prashant Kr Dash, chief medical officer, vhealth said, “The majority of Indians think antibiotics can cure illnesses such as common cold and gastroenteritis, which is a wrong perception. Viruses cause the majority of these infections and antibiotics have no role in their treatment. This problem of inappropriate antibiotic use is compounded by their easy availability at pharmacies.”
In many cases, patients experience unwanted serious side effects of antibiotics like an allergic reaction, diarrhoea, vomiting, kidney failure, changes in blood sugar levels and toxic effects on the heart and liver.”Antibiotics differ from almost every other class of drugs in one important and dangerous way: the more they are used, the less effective they become. Topical antibiotics can be used in the treatment of mild, moderate or severe acne, and should not be used as monotherapy in an effort to reduce resistance development,” says former IMA president Dr KK Agarwal.
