Amidst increasing number of fever and flu patients across India, the Indian Medical Association on Friday, March 3, 2023 advised the doctors to stop prescribing antibiotics.

The seasonal cold and cough, a common phenomenon in people above the age of 50 and below 15 years occurring during the month of October to February results in nausea, sore throat, fever, body ache and in some cases, diarrhoea are caused due to the H3N2 influenza virus, the medical said.

According to the IMA, the fever usually lasts for about five to seven days and even though the fever goes away at the end of three days but the cough can persist for up to three weeks.

The IMA stated that patients who suffer from this viral fever should be given only symptomatic treatment and stop being prescribed antibiotics like Azithromycin and Amoxicalv etc, as taking these antibiotics will lead to antibiotic resistance and when they will actually be required for the body, it won't work due to the resistance.

“Right now, people start taking antibiotics like Azithromycin and Amoxiclav etc, that too without caring for done and frequency and stop it once start feeling better. This needs to be stopped as it leads to antibiotic resistance. Whenever there will be a real use of antibiotics, they will not work due to the resistance,” IMA said in its release.

"Several other antibiotics are being misused for certain conditions and are developing resistance among patients. For instance, 70% diarrhoea cases are viral diarrhoea, for which antibiotics are not needed but are being prescribed by doctors.

"The most misused antibiotics are amoxicillin, norfloxacin, ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, levfloxacin," the medical association further said.

IMA further suggested to diagnose the infection  and figure out whether it is bacterial or not and accordingly prescribe antibiotics.

In regard to this, they cited examples of the usage of azithromycin and ivermectin during the COVID-19 pandemic which has also led to resistance.

They said instead of prescribing antibiotics, one should start practicing self control and regulation.

To prevent infection, IMA recommends to avoid crowded places, practice good hand and respiratory hygiene and take vaccination.

According to a 2021 research led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the usage of antibiotics rose in huge numbers for treating cold and cough during the covid 19 pandemic phase in India.

“Antibiotic resistance is one of the greatest threats to global public health,” said the study’s senior author, infectious diseases specialist Sumanth Gandra, MD, an associate professor of medicine and an associate hospital epidemiologist at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

“Overuse of antibiotics lessens their ability to effectively treat minor injuries and common infections such as pneumonia, which means that these conditions can become serious and deadly. Bacteria that have become resistant to antibiotics don’t have boundaries. They can spread to any person in any country.”

According to a report by The Hindu, the key factors for the increasing usage of antibiotics are lack of awareness among patients and practitioners, unrestricted drug manufacturing, and tepid regulations around antibiotic production and distribution.

(With inputs from The Hindu)