Docs increasingly reporting case studies of patients with 'pan-drug resistance', say modern medicine can do little in this situation
Docs increasingly reporting case studies of patients with 'pan-drug resistance', say modern medicine can do little in this situation
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MiD DAY report on antibiotics abuse pulished on April 7
Microbiologists across cities are reporting case studies of patients who show pan-drug resistance, or a situation where a patient gets admitted to a hospital and doctors find out that no antibiotic known to man works on him. Or even if it does, it is a very moderate response.
In such situations, there is very little that can be done, especially if the patient is already in an immune-compromised situation, as in the case of a terminally ill patient. Dr Nita Munshi, head of microbiology department at Ruby Hall Clinic, has seen a handful of such cases.
"Yes, these cases do show up sporadically. Though drug resistance is very old and we have seen multi-drug resistance for ages, pan-drug resistance is not so common but is an increasing concern. Pan-drug resistance happens mainly because of the abuse of antibiotics," she said. "The abuse can happen either because people get into the habit of popping antibiotic pills or doctors start prescribing drugs indiscriminately."
Dr Munshi said the picture becomes grim when a patient is admitted in the ICU and such a situation arises.
Dr Vikram Padbidri, a microbiologist from Jehangir hospital who has seen a similar case, said the situation can go out of hand for doctors in such conditions.
"Sometimes we reach such a stage that nothing can help the patient except their own immune response. If the patient's body responds well, he will pull through. If not, the chances are slim. Usually patients blame hospitals for passing on infections to them that are deadly, commonly termed superbugs. But it's not just hospitals that are the culprits, patients are creating their own superbugs by abusing antibiotics," he said.
The reasons for developing pan-drug resistance are many. Dr K B Niphadkar, head of microbiology department at KEM hospital, has reported one such case in a medical journal last month. Dr Niphadkar said people can get the superbug either from the community or from hospitals. Dr Rohini Kelkar, a senior microbiologist at Mumbai's Tata Memorial hospital who has seen similar cases, said the answer to the problem was anti-microbial stewardship policies in hospitals.
"Believe it or not, hospitals are a major contributor and can play an effective role in controlling drug resistance. The first step is to educate people, including doctors, on how and when to use antibiotics and minimise their usage. Secondly, efforts should be made to reduce costs by using lesser high-end antibiotics, which are expensive. And the third step is to address the issue of patient safety. Most times infections are passed on
in hospitals to patients and we need effective policies to control that," she said.
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