Ankit Dholakiya, a 12-year-old boy from Nerul was suffering from a seasonal flu. Instead of taking him to a paediatrician, his parents gave him an over-the-counter drug from a medical shop. When his condition did not improve, they took him to a general physician who administered another dose of antibiotic medicine.
However, even then Ankit showed no signs of improvement.When his parents took him to another pediatrician, he was diagnosed with drug resistant bacteria that weren’t responding to the antibiotic given to him. So, to control his flu, the doctor prescribed him with higher dose of antibiotic and after a week of continuous treatment, he finally recovered. However, according to pediatrics, such cases are on a steady rise in the city that can put a cap on the already limited number of antibiotics for children.
Dr Bakul Jayant Parekh, president of Indian Association of Pediatric (IAP) of Mumbai chapter and national treasurer of Central IAP (CIAP) said, “In the past 10 years, limited number of new antibiotics have been invented in India.
“With growing drug resistant bacteria, the number of options for antibiotic among children is also declining steadily.”Developing higher doses of antibiotics that can fight the drug-resisting bacteria is extremely time-consuming and an expensive affair. “Every medicine needs a proper dosage. Not following it, overuse, incorrect use or abuse of antibiotics makes bacteria resistant to treatments,” he added.
When a child develops resistance to an antibiotic, it passes on to the next generation. It can prove fatal for the future treatment as it narrows the already limited number of antibiotics for children, explained experts.
Not only parents, but also doctors carelessly prescribe it if even if it is not needed. “In many cases like fever, cold or diarrhoea, antibiotics are not needed, but some doctors still prescribe it. Indiscriminate prescription of antibiotics will make the bacteria resistant to drugs,” said Dr Chetan Trivedi, executive board member of CIAP.
To curb such incidents, CIAP has developed a guideline — ‘Rational antibiotic practice’ that has been distributed to all pediatrics, but so far it hasn’t proved fruitful.
“We have started a slogan ‘Stop Antibiotic Abuse’ and hold regular workshops for doctors to provide them guidelines. But it will take time to create more awareness both among parents and doctors,” said Dr Parekh.
