CHENNAI: Antimicrobial resistance in organisms is turning into a serious issue for physicians and patients alike. Keeping that in mind Indian Council of Medical Research along with the Centre for Disease Control, USA started its first workshop on Antimicrobial Stewardship programme in Chennai to reduce inappropriate use of antibiotics in hospitals. The menace of antimicrobial resistance and superbugs reared its head in the country when a US woman was hospitalised a number of times in India died as medicine failed to kill or contain the drug-resistant bacteria. She was found to have Klebsiella pneumoniae, a superbug that often causes urinary tract infections.
The Antimicrobial Stewardship Programme (AMSP) workshop will be held in four metros, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai after Chennai. The programme is designed to improve and measure the appropriate use of antibiotics, to reduce the risk of antibiotic resistance.
The AMSP will help to evaluate initiatives to improve prescribing antibiotics, provide timely feedback and classify different antimicrobials. In Chennai the workshop was held at Apollo Hospital. Representatives from Apollo Hospital, Christian Medical College and Hospital, Vellore, JIPMER, Puducherry, Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad and AIMS, Cochin participated in the event.
“A five-member team from six hospitals, administrative, Infection physician, microbiologist, pharmacist and infectious control nurse will be trained on appropriate use of antibiotics in ICUs and a few wards initially. They will in turn go and implement the programme in their hospitals,” said Dr Kamini Walia, programme officer, ICMR.
The ICMR released treatment guidelines for Antimicrobial (AMR) use in common infections last year based on the findings of a survey, released in 2015. The survey (conducted in 20 hospitals in India) showed that over 50 per cent of more use inappropriate use of antibiotics and also there was a lack of physicians in the hospitals, said Dr Kamini.