HYDERABAD: Ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug which was removed from the ICMR guidelines in September 2021, continues to be amongst the list of medicines being distributed by Telangana government as anti-Covid kits to the people with fever-like symptoms.
On September 23, the ICMR had recommended removal of Ivermectin from the guidelines for clinical management of adults with Covid-19. However, this medicine was distributed to various households in Hyderabad district even though the official brochure of the Health Department does not include it.
Another contentious addition in the home isolation kit is Azithromycin, a strong antibiotic. The clinical guidelines of ICMR re-issued on January 14 say that Azithromycin will not be of use in dealing with dehydration, fever and cough. The guidelines also do not mention use of vitamins as well.
This trend of including these medicines, which are not recommended by the ICMR, led to public health experts and doctors raising an alarm. “When these medicines were added in the kit in the first two waves it was understandable because very little was known about the treatment protocol. But there is now a definitive evidence on what works and what doesn’t,” said Dr MSS Mukharjee, Senior Interventional Cardiologist, Medicover Hospitals.
Experts note that such liberal distribution of these two medicines, especially antibiotics, could prove harmful not just to individuals but also to the public health at large. “At an individual level, when antibiotics are given to treat bacterial infection, the good bacteria also get killed while increasing bacterial resistance,” added Dr Mukharjee.
A major public health consequence would emerge when it comes to the treatment of crucial diseases like pneumonia, lung infection and trachoma, explains Dr BR Shamanna, Professor, School of Medical Sciences, University of Hyderabad.
He said antimicrobial resistance is one of the major health problems all over the world. If antibiotics like Azithromycin are used indiscriminately, the bacteria would acquire resistance and mutate into superbugs against which regular antibiotics would not work.
The experts contend that the best way forward should be aggressive advertising of Covid-19 appropriate behaviour, distribution of quality masks, administering fever and cough medicines in fever kits without any antibiotics or vitamins.
What works and what doesn’t
This trend of including medicines that are not recommended by the ICMR led to public health experts and doctors raising an alarm. “When these medicines were added in the kit in the first two waves it was understandable because very little was known about the treatment protocol.
But there is now a definitive evidence on what works and what doesn’t,” said Dr MSS Mukharjee of Medicover Hospitals.