look news india
Antimicrobial resistance is increasing rapidly in India, making it difficult to treat serious diseases. According to the latest report of the Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network (AMRSN) of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), common antibiotics are no longer effective on diseases like urinary tract infection (UTI), blood infection, pneumonia and typhoid.
The seventh annual report released by ICMR states that many common antibiotics (such as cefotaxime, ceftazidime, ciprofloxacin) and levofloxacin are less than 20% effective against E. coli bacteria found in ICU and OPD patients. This bacteria causes infections in various parts of the body like urine, blood and respiratory tract. Similarly, bacteria like Klebsiella pneumonia and Pseudomonas aeruginosa have also developed resistance to important antibiotics like piperacillin-tazobactam, imipenem and meropenem.
According to the report, the effectiveness of many antibiotics has decreased over time. For example, the effectiveness of piperacillin-tazobactam has dropped from 56.8% in 2017 to only 42.4% in 2023. Even commonly used drugs such as amikacin and meropenem are no longer proving to be completely effective.
The alarming rise in antibiotic use and concern
Gram-negative bacteria, which can cause infections in any part of the body, are among the most commonly found pathogens in India. Moreover, Salmonella typhi bacteria, which causes diseases such as diarrhea and gastroenteritis, have developed more than 95% resistance to fluoroquinolone antibiotics, making typhoid difficult to treat.
The report states that there is a need for strict control on the use of antibiotics to prevent the problem of antimicrobial resistance. Also, it is recommended to keep the unnecessary use of these drugs in agriculture under strict monitoring. This will ensure the proper use of antibiotics and serious problems like antibiotic resistance can be dealt with. This ICMR report also points to the increasing misuse of antibiotics in the country, which is not only causing problems in the treatment of patients but can also cause serious health problems in the future.