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Manipal : "Superbugs will kill someone every three seconds by 2050 unless the world acts now" - this highlights the possible explosion of ticking time bomb of antibiotic resistance among bacteria – newly termed as ‘superbugs’ for the resistant bacteria. In support of World Health Organization’s call on action against antibiotic resistance, 14 – 20 November will jointly be observed as Global Antibiotic Awareness Weekby the Infection Control Committee at Kasturba Hospital, Manipal and the Dr T M A Pai Endowement Chair on Antimicrobial Stewardship, Manipal University where series of patient and care provider awareness programs are being be organised. 

The Global Antibiotic Awareness Week program focuses on improving antimicrobial prescription practices among doctors, educating patients and public on safe use of antibiotics, and watching the bacterial resistance progression. Foreseeing the catastrophe of antibiotic resistance in the hospital environment and community, Infection Control Committee at Kasturba Hospital, Manipal and Manipal University initiated antimicrobial stewardship program with an active Infection Control Committee and it’s the first of its kind initiative in India.

Antibiotics, introduced in 1940, are not smart bombs as most people believe, which selectively can target and destroy the bad bacteria and leave the good cells of human body around them alone.  On the other hand, they wipe out whole populations of bacteria — both good and bad, including those that are beneficial to the body. During this process, some bacteria become resistant to antibiotics to enable them to survive the adverse condition thereby reducing the efficacy of antibiotics. Different antibiotics are used for treating serious infections in surgical patients, protecting cancer patients and people with compromised immune systems, and promoting growth and preventing disease in livestock.

Moreover, once-treatable infections are becoming difficult to cure due to Antibiotic resistance resulting from over-use or abuse of antibiotics, raising costs to healthcare facilities and patient mortality which seriously affect individuals as well as society. Many pathogens are resistant to more than one antibiotic, and the new, last-resort antibiotics are expensive and often out of reach for those who need them. Common bacteria in our gut such as Klebsiella and Escherichia coli have developed resistance to even “last resort antibiotics” like carbapenems, which fail to cure serious patients when needed. The misuse of antibiotics for decades has put the world and our society in a life threatening situation now. 

While antibiotic resistance is everyone’s problem, keeping antibiotics effectives is everyone’s responsibility. We must use them in a responsible manner- by avoiding antibiotics to treat common viral infections like the common cold or flu or diarrhoea, taking antibiotics correctly only after diagnosis of infection and prescription by a qualified medical practitioner, avoiding self-medications, avoiding storing the antibiotics for future use and practicing good hygiene.