With antimicrobial resistance on the rise, the Federal Ministry of Health is now calling on doctors to state their reasons for prescribing antibiotics in order to limit the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics. At the same time, pharmacists are asked not to dispense these drugs without a valid prescription. It is estimated that 4.95 million people died from drug-resistant pathogens worldwide in 2019.
Dr. Sangeeta Sharma, professor of neuropharmacology at the Institute of Human Behavioral Sciences and president of the Delhi Society for the Promotion of Rational Drug Use, said the move will force doctors to reconsider their decisions when advising on the use of antibiotics. It states that there is.
How can writing indications help when prescribing antibiotics?
The small step of noting the indications for which the drug is prepared can help doctors reconsider their decision whether antibiotics are needed. Therefore, doctors must narrow down their suspicions of which pathogen is causing the infection through clinical observation or testing. This, in turn, helps prescribe narrow-spectrum antibiotics. These antibiotics are intended to treat specific types of infections rather than affecting all microorganisms in the body.
What I understand is, if you can do the job with a needle, why draw a sword? Broad-spectrum antibiotics are known to increase resistance more than targeted drugs. Writing down indications is also useful in settings such as large tertiary care hospitals with large patient volumes. In hospitals, simply repeating a previous prescription can lead to long-term use of antibiotics.
When the seasons change, I get a fever or catch a cold, what should I do?
People have come to think of antibiotics as just any other over-the-counter medicine. They don't know the harm of taking antibiotics without a prescription. You don't want to go to the doctor, get a test, or take a few days off sick when you can get a quick cure at your local pharmacy. But it is our job to make people understand that the indiscriminate use of antibiotics not only harms people, but society as a whole.
Using antibiotics without a prescription or with incomplete treatment can spread resistant bacteria in the community, making the same medicines useless to others.
What are the scenarios in which antibiotics are most commonly misused?
There are two common scenarios in which antibiotics are misused or even overused by physicians. One is when a person is unable to diagnose whether the infection is bacterial or viral and errs on the side of caution and prescribes antibiotics. The second case is when you know you have a bacterial infection but want to avoid a secondary infection. Antibiotics can be saved in this case because very few people get such secondary bacterial infections.
If a seriously ill patient is admitted to the hospital, broad-spectrum antibiotics may be prescribed for 48 hours, during which time tests can be performed to see which pathogen is causing the infection. Then I had to switch antibiotics.
Prescribing antibiotics before and after procedures or surgeries is another way antibiotics are overused. To prevent infection at the surgical site, a single dose of antibiotics 60 to 120 minutes before surgery is sufficient. However, the doctor will eventually prescribe him antibiotics for 7 to 14 days. Proper sterilization of instruments and preparation of the surgical site prevents infection. Shaving the surgical area before surgery can cause scarring and infection and should be avoided.
What are the consequences of overuse or misuse of antibiotics?
The impact is now clearly visible. Common infections can no longer be treated. Tuberculosis and urinary tract infections are becoming multidrug resistant. In hospitals, infections result in the use of more expensive and toxic antibiotics and longer treatment times. Despite all efforts and successful surgeries, people are dying.
What about new antibiotics?
For a long time, we didn't worry about antibiotic resistance because new treatments kept coming out. There have been no new classes of antibiotics in recent decades. This is because companies don't want to spend money finding drugs that are quickly phased out due to resistance. Therefore, there is a need to conserve existing antibiotics.
© Indian Express Private Limited
Date first uploaded: January 19, 2024 17:15 IST
