Indians are extremely naive, or totally clueless about their health. Even after so much has been said about the dangers of antibiotic resistance – the potentially fatal superbugs, and the scary post-antibiotic era – 75 per cent Indians still believe that antibiotics cure a cold, says the World Health Organisation (WHO).
According to the latest survey in 12 countries by the WHO, it was found that in India, three-quarters of the respondents were aware of the seriousness of antibiotic resistance, yet the same number thought that antibiotics are the answer for seasonal illnesses like flu. Half of them even stopped taking antibiotics midway, as soon as they felt better.
Well my friend, this ain’t no joke.
- Antibiotics are for bacterial diseases like a stomach infection or post-surgery.
- Colds and flu are caused by viruses.
- Antibiotics will not shorten the course of illness or make you any less sick.
- Taking antibiotics for viral diseases ups your chances of superinfections like vaginal yeasts and other superbugs.
- 1 in every 1,000 patients who unnecessarily take antibiotics end up in the emergency room with a serious drug reaction.
India is an Antibiotic Addict, Doctors Are To Blame Too
Indians are reckless with antibiotics.
There has been a six-fold increase in the number of antibiotics being popped by Indians in the last five years. This includes the Carbapenems, the strongest and the highest class of antibiotics, typically used as a “last resort” by doctors to treat serious infections.
The World Health Organisation survey suggests that physicians are also over-prescribing antibiotics, left, right and centre. 90 per cent respondents say they were prescribed antibiotics by doctors or nurses.
The study suggests that according to the best estimate more than half of these prescriptions are unnecessary.
No wonder, we are now in a situation that is unique in human history: once curable diseases like tuberculosis, are hard to treat and have become highly resistant to common drugs.
Whether it is the resistant Klebsiella, KPC, spreading east across the planet from the United States; or NDM-1 superbug, moving West from India; or “pig MRSA”; the bugs are on the ascent, and we have limited time to block their advance.
What Will We Do When Antibiotics Stop Working?
The post-antibiotic apocalypse is on the horizon.
Exaggeration? Unfortunately not.
Seven lakh people are dying every year – around the world – from infections which can resist all antibiotics. Imagine a scenario, where surgeons start losing patients because cutting the body will let in resistant bacteria. Giving birth will become much more risky, injuries will become a lot more dangerous, a strep throat will cause heart damage.
It’s the stuff nightmares are made of, but that’s the ugly reality. In many parts of the world, most meat animals are injected antibiotics every day, not to cure illnesses, but to fatten them up and to protect them against the factory farm conditions they are raised in.
We should have completely banned the use of antibiotics in livestock, ten years ago. Antibiotic usage in medicine ought to be cut by half.
What else should we do?
My guess: Develop ways to make our immunity systems stronger. For starters, get cracking on lots of vaccines against bacterial diseases. When drugs can’t help, you are on your own. Your own immunity system needs to become much stronger.
Antibiotic policies around the world with regard to usage are lame and plain dumb.
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