Antibiotic Resistance- A dangerous path Ahead

 Few years back, one European lady admitted in a hospital with osteomyelitis. She was prescribed multiple injectable antibiotics, but not responding properly. Finally her culture sensitivity was carried out with some alarming results. It was found a superbug  resistant to some twenty conventional antibiotics. So it is interesting to discuss what  a superbug really is. It is a multidrug resistant bacterium resistant to multiple conventional antibiotics.

Medical science cannot be imagined without antibiotics. It was the era of Sir Alexander Fleming who brought out life saving Penicillins to the  limelight for the first time that saved many lives. It was a miraculous discovery that has been the mainstay of management of hospitalized patients. 

In the preantibiotic era many lives lost to cholera pandemic.The devastating scenario cannot be imagined nowadays due to blessings of medical science. Whether in outpatient department or critically ill indoor patients, antibiotics significantly changed the outcome of illness. 

But why we discuss about antimicrobial resistance?

The answer lies in the overzealous,unregulated, improper use along with rampant use by unskilled  or semi skilled personnel in developing countries like India.

Due to lack of regulatory compliance by authorities, many counters sell antibiotics as over the counter drugs,signaling a dangerous future. People sometimes don’t use the antibiotics for the prescribed period,in turn leading to emergence of resistant mutants in bacteria species like MRSA. It is methicillin resistant staphylococcus causing skin infections, pneumonia. 

In developing countries like India, antimicrobials often used for treatment of livestock virtually leading to mutated strains in human being. 

We have to save our future generations. According to WHO, antimicrobials resistance is going to be the one of the top ten cause of mortality in next decade. 

 Due to lack of permission and stringent laws, clinical trials are prohibited in many countries,which further limits the discovery of new antibiotics hampering treatment of wild mutant strains.

Let us start a new beginning..

1. Maintain strict hygiene to prevent infectious diseases. 

2. Consult registered medical practitioners for consultation.

3. Antibiotics should be used for prescribed periods.

4. Limiting use of higher antibiotic for simple infections I.e. use of linozolid should be prohibited for simple skin infections which has anti tuberculosis actions.

5. Authorities should ban use of over the counter drugs which can prevent rampant use of antibiotics.

6. Use of antimicrobial for livestock should be limited. 

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