New Delhi: Doctors usually prescribe antibiotics when fever and cold occur in the body. India tops the list of countries that consume the most antibiotics globally. In this case, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has reported that antibiotic drugs are not effective for a large number of Indians. Thus, doctors should avoid overprescribing antibiotics when a mild fever occurs.
ICMR has issued new guidelines in this regard. In that, only 5 days of antibiotic should be prescribed for skin and soft tissue infections. Antibiotics should only be prescribed for 5 days for community-acquired pneumonia and 8 days for hospital-acquired pneumonia. Empiric antibiotic therapy, based on observation, should be reserved for patients with severe infections, the ICMR states.
ICMR examined a wide range of patients from January to December last year. It was then discovered that carbapenem antibiotics do not work for a significant number of people. While that antibiotic drug is widely used, the pathogen has become more virulent than that drug.
As a result, the drug could not destroy the pathogen. Similarly, the ICMR has noted that antibiotic drugs prescribed for the bacterium Klebsiella pneumoniae have lost potency.
