Superbugs: What to do about pills that don’t work
MUMBAI : Indians love to self-medicate and pop their pills like candies. A recent government report sheds light on why prevention may not always be better than cure, and how we are staring at a crisis where antibiotics might just stop working. Mint explains the situation: Antibiotics and antivirals are a key factor behind humanity’s success against infectious diseases, helping raise life expectancy and making several diseases manageable.
But many bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites have evolved to become resistant to the drugs that are used to neutralize them. The rise of dangerous new antimicrobial resistant superbugs is a global crisis that shouldn’t be ignored, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). They lead to longer duration of illnesses, higher healthcare costs and even deaths.
Deaths due to AMR have been rising, reaching 4.95 million in 2019. India had an estimated 297,000 deaths from AMR in 2019. A key reason for AMR is indiscriminate use of antibiotics.
Doctors often prescribe them based on just symptoms rather than a confirmed diagnosis and for prevention. This is dangerous, as confirmed by a government study, published earlier this month and conducted across 20 government medical colleges and hospitals. Use of antibiotics was “remarkably high"—72% of patients were given such drugs.
0nly 6% were given antibiotics after diagnosis, 55% got them for mere prevention, and 57% got antibiotics “more prone to be a target of resistance". Antibiotics are the most commonly prescribed antimicrobials. Overuse, incorrect diagnosis and dosage, and not completing the prescribed course can lead to development of superbugs that are hard to treat.
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