Antibiotic resistance has now emerged as the biggest cause of concern for medical fraternity worldwide.
Antibiotic or drug resistance is caused due to resistance of microorganisms to antimicrobial agents which were once effective in treating the disease. The reason behind this threat is the rampant use and in many cases misuse of antimicrobial substances which not only prevents in treating even the most common diseases leading to death or disability but also results in reducing efficacy of drugs. As a result, managing infections in case of communicable diseases as well is becoming an even bigger challenge.
A global report on surveillance 2014 on antimicrobial resistance has highlighted that there is a gap between information on bacteria and issues of major public health importance. The invention of antibiotics was akin to magic bullet. Because all major antibiotics are safe, low cost and effective at low doses, of all the medicines they are misused the most.
Rational use of the antibiotics is therefore the need of the hour. A global action plan has to be drawn up to make people aware of the optimal use of the antibiotics to strengthen knowledge more and reduce incidences of infection. It has to be kept in mind that rampant misuse leads to antibiotic resistance which in turn adds to the healthcare cost burden.
Resistance is a natural phenomenon but with added cases antimicrobial resistance, the frequency of resistance is increasing in numbers. Poor adherence to dosage regimen is one of the factors for antimicrobial resistance. Physicians should decide whether there is a need for prescribing these antibiotics to patients, whether it will actually translate to benefit for the patients.
It is well said that if no action is taken today; no cure will be available tomorrow.
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