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Pawan Kumar Mishra, Patna. Life-saving antibiotics are increasingly becoming ineffective due to lack of awareness. Diseases which earlier used to be cured with normal antibiotics, now have to be given new hydrogenated medicines. The reason is the negligence in the use of antibiotics and their disposal, due to which pathogenic bacteria are rapidly becoming superbugs.
According to the WHO report of 2025, common antibiotics have now become ineffective in the treatment of six bacterial infections, while according to the report of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) of 2024, 83 percent of the patients in the country have developed multi-drug resistance, i.e. they have developed resistance against many drugs. After this, recently the Prime Minister himself has appealed to avoid this silent epidemic.
Main reasons for ineffectiveness of medicine
According to Dr. Hitesh Mishra, Associate Professor of the Department of Pharmacology at IGIMS, multi-drug resistant bacteria are those which develop resistance against many drugs, that is, they are not affected by many antibiotics. Medicines like penicillin, cephalosporin and fluoroquinolones, which were effective earlier, have now become ineffective in many cases.
Taking antibiotics without doctor's consultation, not taking the full course of medicine and even when not required, such as in case of viral cold and cough, the bacteria becomes stronger and later becomes a superbug.
Apart from this, due to lack of proper disposal of medicines and antibiotics given to animals through milk, eggs or meat reaching the body, the effect of these antibiotics gradually gets lost. If people are not aware about the correct use of antibiotics, then even simple infections can prove fatal in the future.
New antibiotic carbapenem also became ineffective
According to ICMR's 2024 annual report, E.coli, which causes serious stomach problems, diarrhea and urinary tract infection, and K. coli, which causes infection in the lungs, urinary tract and blood. Causes of pneumonia and surgical site, lung or blood infection in hospitals, especially ICU patients. Resistance to essential antibiotics like carbapenems and fluoroquinolones is increasing in common bacteria like A. baumannii. This has limited treatment options for hospital-acquired infections. According to the study, 43 percent had P. aeruginosa and A. baumannii, resistance to carbapenem was found in 91 percent.
Of. pneumoniae, high resistance to piperacillin-tazobactam was found in about 75 percent. At the same time, among the common antibiotics used in poultry, doxycycline of tetracycline group, oxytetracycline, enrofloxacin of quinolone group, ciprofloxacin, azithromycin of macrolides group, tylosin, neomycin of aminoglycosides group, streptomycin, sulfonamides and amoxicillin of penicillin group etc. have become ineffective.
Ways to reduce resistance
Do not throw waste antibiotics here and there, dispose of them like this
A major reason for neutralizing antibiotics in bacteria is throwing them here and there or in the garbage. According to Dr. Hitesh Mishra, these antibiotics cause harm in two ways. First- Medicines thrown in the garbage remain in contact with pathogenic bacteria for a long time, due to which they develop resistance to that medicine. At the same time, the geothermal water seeps in very limited quantity and from there reaches the human body and develops immunity.
Research shows that every year a large part of the antibiotics in the country and the world are reaching rivers, streams and underground water systems and creating resistant microorganisms or superbugs. In such a situation, it is necessary to destroy the remaining or expired medicines as per the standards. For this, a rule should be made for medicine shopkeepers to take back useless medicines.
State Drug Controller Nityanand Kislay said that common people can flush these medicines down the toilet, in the long run they will get destroyed safely on their own in the safety tank. Patna's Assistant Drug Controller Chunendra Mahato said that by donating the unused medicines kept at home to the nearest government hospital or the nearest medicine shop two-three months before their expiry, they will either be useful to someone or they will be disposed of properly.
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