IMA asks doctors to stop prescribing Antibiotics to patients with seasonal fever, cough; here’s why

Amid increasing patients of seasonal fever, cold and cough, The Indian Medical Association (IMA) asked the medical practitioners to avoid prescription of antibiotics.

While sharing a notice regarding this on Twitter, the association wrote, “There is a sudden increase in the number of patients having symptoms of cough nausea, vomiting, sore throat, fever, body ache and diarrhoea in some cases.

The association said that the fever goes away at the end of three days, but the cough can persist for up to three weeks. As per information from NCDC most of the cases are H3N2 influenza virus. However, the IMA said that it is common to have seasonal cold and cough during this time of the year and asked the medical practioners to give only symptomatic treatment and not to prescribe antibiotics to patients.

Also Read: Spring influenza in India: Doctors suggest how to avoid prolonged symptoms

IMA pointed out that people have started taking antibiotics like Athreycin and Amoxiclav etc without caring for dose and frequency and they stop it once start feeling better. They added that this needs to be stopped as it leads to antibiotic resistance.

“Whenever there will be a real use of antibiotic, they will not work due to the resistance,” the IMA wrote.

It further pointed out that several other antibiotics are being misused for certain conditions and are developing resistance among patients. Giving examples, they said, 70 percent of diarrhoea, for which antibiotics are not needed but are being prescribed by doctors.

Last year, a Lancet study had also stated that antibiotic-resistance could pose another pandemic in India. As per the report, India is one of the countries that are worst hit by “antimicrobial resistance”. 

The report which had also mentioned a government report mentioned that some tests were carried out at Kasturba Hospital to find out which antibiotic would be most effective against the five main bacterial pathogens such as E.coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae. The study found that a number of drugs were less than 15 per cent effective in treating the diseases caused by those bacterial pathogens. They also found the rise of multidrug-resistant pathogens called Acinetobacter baumannii. Acinetobacter baumannii attacks the lungs of a patient. An ICMR report has said that the resistance to powerful antibiotics has risen by up to 10 percent in a year

Speaking of IMA, the association also listed out the list of misused antibiotics including amoxicillin, norfloxacin, ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, levofloxacin which were prescribed for diarrhoea and for UTI.

Giving another examples, IMA wrote, “We have already seen widespread use of azithromycin and ivermectin during Covid and this too had led to resistance.”

It also asked doctors that it is necessary to diagnose whether the infection is bacteria or not before prescribing any antibiotics.

Speaking of the currently rising cases of Influenza A subtype H3N2, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has called it as the major cause of rising respiratory illness in India. Although the new wave is not causing deaths and hospitalization, the symptoms are similar to those of covid-19 and last for as long as 2-3 weeks.

ICMR said that the surveillance data from 15 December to date reflects the rise in the number of cases of influenza A H3N2.

“About half of all inpatient severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) and outpatient influenza-like illnesses were found to have influenced A H3N2,” ICMR said.

The spike in flu cases in the country is similar to what the West experienced between September and January last year. The World Health Organization mentioned influenza A(H1N1)pdm09, A(H3N2), and influenza B viruses circulated in several countries

ICMR has also suggested people to wash their hands regularly and avoid shaking hands and spitting in public. ICMR also stated that “The Dos include washing hands with soap and water. If symptomatic, wear masks and avoid crowded places, cover mouth and nose while sneezing and coughing, take plenty of fluids, avoid touching eyes and nose, and take paracetamol for fever and body ache.”

It further added, “The Don’ts include shaking hands or using other contact greetings, spitting in public, taking antibiotics or other medicines without consulting a doctor, eating together sitting close to others.”

(With inputs from agencies)

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