Patients develop resistance to antibiotics, as usage surges remarkably in Telangana

Senior doctors who have been tracking the antibiotics usage in a survey at Osmania Medical College and Osmania General Hospital (OGH) said that common antibiotics that are prescribed were not working in a majority of patients, as they have developed resistance to the antibiotics.

Hyderabad: In a disturbing trend, consumption of antibiotics that potentially can trigger antimicrobial resistance, which means patients do not respond anymore to the prescribed antibiotics, is remarkably high among patients in Telangana, a latest report on usage of antibiotics released by National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), under union Health Ministry, said.

Senior doctors who have been tracking the antibiotics usage in a survey at Osmania Medical College and Osmania General Hospital (OGH) said that common antibiotics that are prescribed were not working in a majority of patients, as they have developed resistance to the antibiotics.

---

The Osmania Medical College/Osmania General Hospital were among 20 other government hospitals were a ‘Multicentric Point Prevalence Survey of Antibiotic Use’ was conducted by the NCDC. The survey findings have indicated that usage of antibiotics has over the years, between 2017 and 2021, surged remarkably.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified antibiotics into three groups that include Access, Watch and Reserve. The antibiotics under Watch group are the ones that have higher resistance potential and must be prioritized as key targets to monitor.

The NCDC survey indicated that the consumption of the antibiotics in the crucial Watch group has increased. “We observed that consumption of antibiotics ranged from 88.7 (2020) to 118.3 (2018) DDD/100-bed-days. Watch group of antibiotics were consumed more than the access group antibiotics in all the five years ranging from 51.8 to 72.7 DDD/100-bed-days with 2021 recording the highest proportion of Watch group consumption at 64 percent. Access group consumption ranged from 29.8 to 42.3 DDD per 100-bed-days with 2017 recording the highest proportion of Access group consumption at 43 percent,” it said.

Third generation cephalosporins were the highest consumed class of antibiotics across the years followed by combinations of beta-lactams and beta-lactamase inhibitors. Though the Reserve group antibiotics should be treated as ‘last resort’ options, the use of colistin, linezolid, and aztreonam in these sites is a matter of concern, the NCDC report on antibiotic usage said.

Top antibiotics that are being consumed in high numbers in TS :

• Third generation cephalosporins were the highest consumed class of antibiotics
• Beta-lactams with beta-lactamase inhibitors for various kinds of infections

• High rate of consumption of antibiotics in major Indian cities including Hyderabad
• Majority of antibiotics consumed in large numbers were from Watch group

• Ceftriaxone, Azithromycin, Ciprofloxacin were the top three antibiotics consumed against priority pathogens
• Oral antibiotics are on the rise compared to injections

• Third generation cephalosporins were the highest consumed class of antibiotics

The Top 10 antibiotics consumed:

• Tab. Azithromycin (500mg)Inj. Ceftriaxone (1g)
• Tab. Cefixime (200 mg)
• Tab. Amoxycillin and Clavulanic acid (625mg)
• Inj. Amikacin (500 mg)
• Cap. Doxycycline (100 mg)
• Inj. Metronidazole 400mg
• Inj. Piperacillin & Tazobactum 4.5g
• Tab. Ciprofloxacin 500mg
• Inj.Ceftriaxone and Sulbactam