BENGALURU: Recall the recent time you were unwell and someone immediately prescribed you an antibiotic. The over prescription and overuse of antibiotic is leading to rapid development of antibiotic resistant and its threat is on a global scale.
The medicine generally prescribed for patients undergoing dialysis and cystic fibrosis called Cephalosporins, is the most overused and over prescribed antibiotic in the country according to Dr Till Bachmann, deputy head of the Division of Infection and Pathway Medicine at The University of Edinburgh.Resistance Map, a web-based data tool that aggregates antibiotic trends across the world shows a spike in use of Cephalosporins in 2014 as compared to its usage in 2008 in India. The side effects of the antibiotic includes stomach infection, nausea, diarrhea, fungal infection and blood
abnormalities.With the growing concern of antibiotics usage in the country, City Express talks to the pathologist about it.
Blessing and curse of antibiotics
“Antimicrobial resistance is a threat on a global scale. If not tackled, we risk to have 10 million deaths annually,” says Dr Bachmann. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the ability of a microorganism such as bacteria, viruses, and parasites to stop antimicrobials from working against it. As a result,treatments become ineffective. However, he agrees that without antibiotics the study of medicine would be thrown back to the “pre-antibiotic era” where hygiene would be the only option to deal with infections.
“Surgeries for hip replacements, dentistry, caesareans or complications for mother and child during and after birth would not be possible,” he says. Even the common infections such as Urinary Tract Infections (UTI), which affect 150 million people every year would become potentially life threatening.
But as of today the rise of multidrug resistant TB is a specific concern.
“As long we are healthy, antibiotics should not play a role in our daily lives,” admits Dr Bachmann. But the use of antibiotics are not only overused but excessively used in all fields including seafood and agriculture.
Over prescription results in AMR
The problem with over prescription is that there is no diagnostic data available to tell how much of antibiotic should be used. But it has been known that doctors prescribe antibiotics even for cases that don’t require it such as acute bronchitis. Dr Bachmann has observed that most antibiotics are prescribed in primary care.
Added to the that, the country faces the problem of Over The Counter (OTC) drugs that can have dangerous consequences if self-prescribed. Over prescription and self prescription is one of the main reasons of the development of AMR. “In veterinary, there has to be a culture change of not using antibiotics as growth promotors as well as reducing their use generally. It seems very risky that antibiotics which have human application are used in the veterinary sector in large quantities as well,” highlights Dr Bachmann.
He was in the city in July to initiate AMR DxC - the Antimicrobial Resistance Challenge competition. The AMR DxC Summer School 2017 was an event where students were trained in AMR and diagnostics with the objective of garnering global collaboration of young innovators to tackle AMR. Dr Bachmann will be coming to the city next year to further this intiative.
Pathologists on Crime shows
In most of the crime thrillers you come across a pathologist who plays a pivitol role in solving crimes. We asked Dr Till Bachmann on what he thought about TV soaps starring such characters. “The presence of a lab person in TV soaps is generally positive. It creates a presence for this discipline and raises its profile, especially for the next generation but also for the general public,” he shares. But it also creates a slightly skewed image of the profession, he adds. Same is the case for other professions such as doctors or the police force. “I know of many companies being very interested to see their products used and shown in such movies and soaps,” he concludes.