The Indian Medical Association on Friday advised doctors and medical practitioners across the country to avoid prescribing antibiotics for seasonal fever, cold and cough as the cases of H3N2 virus continue to be on the rise. The medical body made the announcement via a notice on all its social media accounts.
According to the notice issued by the IMA Standing Committee for Anti-Microbial Resistance, seasonal fever will last five to seven days. The fever goes away at the end of three days, but the cough can persist for up to three weeks, the notice further stated.
It mostly occurs in people above the age of 50 and below 15 years while people develop upper respiratory infections along with fever, the notice stated adding that air pollution is one of the precipitating factors. The medical body asked doctors to give only symptomatic treatment, no need to give antibiotics. It further advised people to start taking antibiotics like Azithromycin and Amoxiclav etc., without caring for dose and frequency but asked them to stop once they start feeling better.
People need to stop taking the antibiotics once they feel better as it leads to resistance. Several other antibiotics are being misused for certain conditions and are developing resistance among patients. For instance, 70% of diarrhea cases are viral diagnoses, for which antibiotics are not needed but are being prescribed by doctors, the notice added.
According to the notice, the most misused antibiotics are amoxicillin, norfloxacin, oprofloxacin, ofloxacin, levofloxacin. These are being used for diarrhea and for UTI. We have already seen widespread use of anthromycin and ivermectin during Covid and this too has led to resistance it is necessary to diagnose whether the infection is bacterial or not before prescribing antibiotics. It further advised people to practice self-control and regulation for the prevention of infection and avoid crowded places. Practice good hand and respiratory hygiene and take vaccination, IMA advised in its notice.
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