Nine months after the World Health Organisation (WHO) decided to keep antibiotic drug resistance as its theme for 2011, a study is being conducted to understand the extent of antibiotics resistance problem in the state.
The study by the directorate of medical education and research (DMER) is being conducted in 14 medical colleges in the state and will help find out the extent of the problem of antibiotics resistance.
Sir JJ Group of Hospitals is one of 14 medical colleges which will be part of the statewide surveillance programme of anti-microbial resistance in hospitals.
The collected data will be analysed by the Haffkine Institute, said DMER sources.
“We are expected to send the data on cases of antibiotic resistance to the DMER by the month-end,” said Dr Ameeta Joshi, head of the microbiology department, Sir JJ Group of Hospitals.
Even before the WHO zeroed in on its theme, microbiologists have been emphasising the need for microbiological laboratory support for doctors and strict guidelines on antibiotic prescriptions and policies for quite some time.
“It is good that the DMER is taking an initiative to understand the antibiotic-resistance cases. Though we do it hospital-wise, this will be the first time that a cumulative data is collected on antibiotic resistance for analysis. The trend varies from hospital to hospital and from ward to ward,” said Dr Joshi.
Anti-microbial resistance is the result of inappropriate use of antibiotics in hospitals and in the community (including sub-therapeutic doses due to ignorance about resistance mechanisms), sale of over-the-counter antibiotics and patients failing to complete their course of antibiotics.
More bacteria are becoming resistant to common antibiotics and to make matters worse, several of them are developing resistance to known antibiotics.
According to the health expert, the problem today is that doctors use broad-spectrum antibiotics which are like bombs that destroy everything. “If you have a particular target pathogen, you should use specific antibiotics. There is a need to improve infection control practices in hospitals. The hospitals have to implement antibiotics policy and they must set up a committee to keep a watch on the use of antibiotics,” said Dr Joshi.
