“We have been documenting increasing antimicrobial resistance rates every year in India and this survey shows the consumption link that leads to it. There is an urgent need to educate people about the harms of excessive antibiotic use,” says Dr Kamini Walia, the senior scientist who coordinates the antimicrobial resistance initiative of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

What does the report say?

The survey discovered how 71.9 per cent of sufferers have been prescribed antibiotics, with solely a ten share level distinction in antibiotic use between intensive care models which have the sickest sufferers and the opposite wards. Surprisingly, 55 per cent of the antibiotics have been prescribed not for the therapy of an an infection however to stop one. “While it is not recommended, many physicians prescribe antibiotics to people with viral infection to prevent a supra-added bacterial infection. And, when it comes to surgeons, almost everyone prescribes antibiotics for 15 days. They are scared their patients will get an infection but this needs to be avoided,” says Dr Purva Mathur, professor of microbiology and a part of the hospital an infection management workforce on the trauma centre of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

She says solely three doses of antibiotics are advisable as prophylaxis previous to “dirty” surgical procedures, the place inside organs are opened up, and none in any respect earlier than clear procedures.

The survey additionally discovered that 57 per cent of the antibiotics used have been from a class reserved for sicker sufferers and have been extra prone to result in antimicrobial resistance. This is the second degree of antibiotics as per the worldwide classification. The reserve group consists of last-resort antibiotics meant for treating solely multi-drug resistant infections.

Only six per cent of those antibiotics prescribed have been definitive therapy with the opposite 94 per cent being empirical prescriptions given by the medical doctors based mostly on what they thought had triggered the an infection.

What occurs if antibiotics are over-prescribed?

Dr Mathur says extreme use of antibiotics can create superbugs which journey by sewer and consuming water. She says if cancer and transplant survivors are contaminated by such resistant pathogens, then “it is difficult, if not impossible, to treat them.” Dr Walia explains that when there may be 70 to 80 per cent resistance to medicine reminiscent of carbapenems, then only a few treatable choices stay.

What does the report suggest?

The report means that hospitals adhere to straightforward therapy pointers, have an outlined antibiotic coverage, encourage use of the entry group of medicines, that may care for illness, and make sure that the reserve group is minimally used. It additionally recommended avoiding use of a number of antibiotics.

The examine advisable that solely a single dose or one-day dose of antibiotics be given earlier than any surgical procedure and post-surgery infections be handled solely after analysis.

What measures do consultants counsel?

Other than curbing irresponsible use of antibiotics, Dr Mathur says there’s a want to make sure availability of entry group of antimicrobials in hospitals. “Because the access group of medicines are not frequently prescribed, these are often not available in hospital pharmacies,” she says.

Dr Walia advocates vigilance by state governments which give free medicines. “There is an increase not only in the use of antibiotics but use of watch category antibiotics,” she says including fastened dose mixture medicines containing antimicrobials add to the problem.

Dr Chand Wattal, chairperson of Institute of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, suggests microbial cultures be executed earlier than prescribing antibiotics.