Jaypee Hospital celebrated World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW) with the aim to increase awareness of global antimicrobial resistance and to encourage best practices among the general public to avoid the further emergence and spread of drug-resistant infections.
Antimicrobial resistance happens when microbes such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites no longer respond to medicines, making infections difficult to treat. The WHO has declared antimicrobial resistance as one of the top 10 global health threats.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Suryasnata Das, Associate Director, Microbiology, Jaypee Hospital, Noida said, “Antimicrobial resistance has destabalised a century of progress in medicine; infections that were previously treatable and curable with the drugs are now becoming incurable. Even common infections are becoming risky and a matter of concern. The cause of all this is found in the human behaviour of misusing or overusing antimicrobials.”
The overuse of antibiotics especially taking antibiotics even when they’re not the suitable treatment for that particular disease promotes antibiotic resistance. Antibiotics treat bacterial infections but not viral infections. Some common viral infections that don’t benefit from antibiotic treatment are cold, flu (influenza), bronchitis, most coughs, some ear infections, some sinus infections and stomach flu.
“It’s tempting to stop taking an antibiotic as soon as one start feeling better. But the full treatment is extremely crucial to kill the disease-causing bacteria. Failures to take an antibiotic as prescribed can result in the need to resume treatment later and promote the spread of antibiotic-resistant properties among bacteria. We must ensure that we are only taking antimicrobials on medical advice and under medical supervision when we are sick,” concluded Dr. Suryasnata Das.
